我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living# Q4 H3 E v) v9 B6 U
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 }% C: c% b" a5 H- S5 y0 Ion a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,1 X/ k- G, k+ A2 j$ y3 G5 Y( `
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give Z% r- I( |+ Y, \' E, R
answers to our pointed questions.% K7 k: l7 G6 ~2 O0 r$ G3 r
% X$ L6 g, _/ c6 H- _ P* {/ @The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
8 w# x4 _' m) h* l/ c" n% ?45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) N, u4 w$ n% H$ yout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 I4 s' n, k3 U/ D7 @: G0 j
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. @" j. q+ J" k/ S- y% Y9 f
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
4 z9 y9 E9 M, }' C& {' ^( P. s" Bmedical schools.
- Y% ] U: z u/ K+ Y# L; ?# d. ^8 E- u
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
# x" b0 r) K7 Hgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants g- {3 h+ K" E5 V( k
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years* ]6 q4 k( m" H/ R
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba( U* P v0 \) u
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) t5 k: P- |& `
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There* N5 D4 U2 V$ n. W9 @ |
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and7 T$ g! G Q& V
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk. \/ { w& }0 O( [2 Z6 ]3 M9 j* T2 A
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) ^( I; B# ~& }' ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# I; z( ]& ^" u
* _; N: ]3 ^+ _# ]The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
9 f6 W8 ~" l- B Xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and1 ?7 B! b7 u M
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people* \2 x7 m( q% G2 P
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- p" F8 W1 o( h7 k+ F
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
- o$ p" a9 x; {' Y) xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high4 J! a& _- c8 G0 t( T O+ {
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 D" T+ M9 [$ y$ @' `) X; M
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 x: M4 Z- a4 A8 G* T r% J
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only! {" A) Q7 S2 J( A; M
charge the fee defined by the state.% g, o% v5 M2 f/ P. k
6 a5 K' T+ l( ^3 E4 VThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
2 P3 b8 _7 \+ ^. a a. e; {on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
' `; ?) v" v9 y6 ~of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
* y6 O1 C" V L7 A- n. H: ~truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
) w# ~4 W) t+ B+ [! wseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
) p) B; _2 ?2 M6 G2 v* uworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
; S% [8 Y6 n! @+ b- a1 ^schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if( Q7 {+ [" O* F3 M
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
& G9 Q4 [! C# f) h* Q2 ytrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
x7 L7 F, o9 {7 j4 k- Jhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
3 g' F" m7 d5 k0 M' Fpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want+ d" k G4 ` N0 D% v) `
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
: Y% N: V$ e, Z% h+ ?" {buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: {, [$ t" v( P- @! H0 Gare spaces.- a* v: i' V+ L$ m( L5 Q! d
1 n: K, z7 [. r, A- A) M* q1 S( XThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi' t; \! E+ b3 O" j/ I
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# C4 f/ T0 V" X' X( V7 f3 `, Fown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the+ l7 ~ Q+ N9 D* _- n
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 k/ R" G ^2 g# P# c# u
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 j7 ~$ c8 Y Mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ W3 O. g# X1 h
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 q5 D8 Y) w$ x& M
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 t1 U6 o: v3 | Z
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- g1 ]: y" Z& T2 j& o2 ^
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
