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
( l; J* ]2 m8 O1 V& tstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 n9 I. Z6 g( {! x# B' M
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: S, V0 {0 s3 n4 h. s
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give# h" K" p b! }
answers to our pointed questions.4 e# d6 W9 q- ~# I/ S# M" z
) n# B: c: m! vThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
4 _& B7 p1 t# r' G45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
, V1 E8 a* E, A9 j, v6 w3 T2 F2 Cout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 K: E! f2 [0 G9 F4 ]
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams! H; _0 C- D$ \
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 b% R5 p0 Q& p( V" c
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 m9 A( ^% h; U# U. f/ y( A* @. R% [3 y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
[ X) k9 Z- Y* i) a; sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' L4 d& v2 U7 |9 hassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. r9 H, C$ j2 r# His from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to }- ]9 e( _& ~( z- S: Z. a! R0 T
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There7 M( V) [6 ~$ E4 J
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and( Y5 ?4 W- e) V9 h' J
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
: |! V) D5 k& f$ r; w8 P( fshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 {+ _+ D. M! Zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! i& Z& F) r) @$ [4 @ y8 l
6 W2 B5 Z0 |) |5 }; fThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. |$ O+ _8 b9 ^4 ]+ [3 lprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
0 N" Y3 F& I* U4 k3 F1 a/ G/ asupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) d7 y5 ]- {5 w& ?/ Y2 r y* R
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
6 r4 g' M3 t) F% D$ [4 h4 [( Zthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# G$ g+ R8 O+ L( R% R7 o8 L: g5 d; A
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 B3 U6 \$ h# M# Ndivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years." X" Z7 Y! N8 J9 a3 s
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When' o& F' b& m- X9 ]* K- Y' Z9 C
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
" a% V0 [ ?" Q! Echarge the fee defined by the state.: i; \7 w4 }0 l! L
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get b t, ^3 \) Q$ R
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
8 S0 n6 R2 R: l& [! {of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; G# @& I6 c: v) I; t+ i N; C
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
0 w8 ^! m! E, ?4 qseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
( t; Y% G: p p3 }* w+ Nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
# G3 y" o3 D. Q3 I2 d% Dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: \- U, C( ] \you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
( ]+ i! [& ~( i7 j- Otrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
- d2 N5 [7 O3 \hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
2 c, e8 ~3 _8 u @ K- kpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want& t$ A* ~$ ~3 J, C
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 S* k5 A) b& X! l
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
/ R! B$ D( v+ J* J0 iare spaces.1 e% v6 f1 z k& `% E, K
: |7 n, P# x4 BThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
* g& b) }0 C5 G; ]( R0 D" s8 bto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' g8 o' a: Z9 x" r4 Qown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ N$ n, H# ^1 Y1 a4 R! U40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different. L, ]* g& H1 n) o$ z
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 Z( B7 V6 L8 }$ J5 o. c7 A
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" d9 o# J* E, n1 g
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
4 p0 X( T' L! Y& @' k B$ ?3 O# A0 Bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 P; E" d& ?) }: X$ _0 p5 d1 |/ z" U- @is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- }( F# x/ ~6 p+ D0 F- B
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
