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- X+ _. p$ c* _( a2 d& k" H
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
9 {5 y8 H. V/ q0 h* K( con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
- d* D4 g4 e9 X"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
" E% n! _7 Y) }2 A. u7 `3 b, ianswers to our pointed questions.4 c0 X8 D- x; U; W6 j( ^
Z6 t/ e$ k* ^" {" \/ g# B8 Y4 xThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 U" [$ P( U1 \45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( w( W7 m9 N5 F9 vout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
0 \& Q8 ]/ L- |free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
/ j- z4 K& R( z6 ito get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are4 n7 \( A7 W% k7 `, W8 H0 F
medical schools.' M4 _3 L; g5 F& g# m, z* b( b
8 }0 ^) [' \0 u6 W6 wEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
- U/ n2 J' r. n6 E& ogovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants" ^/ t; b8 i6 z8 y5 f; H* c
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 B* l! s- Y3 E. v' \
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: \4 t+ }; Y' [/ P7 q4 |, {3 W# Y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
* s& h" T) X+ Z' ^* tover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
& X) ?' V. _$ J5 Y& I1 `( }4 ~: cseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and- ]+ s/ {5 l: I# N, q& q
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk9 y+ H9 @) W4 v5 ?' c! K
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some3 l1 a, C7 z- {# O% x5 o) V
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.4 M7 B, g6 @+ Y5 ?3 l9 q
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no4 r" I) K6 g7 N" w- G- l) C- H
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
3 T1 g1 w8 T9 O5 t; m# d* Hsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 n- r- l6 t6 shave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
" F$ B' y5 k7 f, F/ i" fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
& v4 }6 v9 `$ d# T8 ^sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
' m2 w7 @; P/ x. zdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
4 p9 B3 l$ _( t2 IDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When. B/ b1 P; q: Z) X( @* c
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
( z: K( f( X) R' v8 e2 @7 }( Ucharge the fee defined by the state.* Q* j5 Q. z& Z- C
3 p+ H% i5 L" p- G, T0 W4 M! ~There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
4 e- k- C3 z4 u" H* bon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type1 N6 @1 k4 \3 W
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big' K8 z# J( {2 N v5 {
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 S: e9 T7 @6 u g/ M* p
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the7 N( w, w* i- F0 F' n
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on( c% }; D1 o, o: M
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& i9 k4 N3 S( v( y! K
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people( K' @- U2 v' ^
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch2 K6 _7 P8 e/ J, k" \+ f
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that* @% _4 j3 J5 a% f
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
; x" p; ^& x a3 F2 A; I3 }to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
6 i! M, ]) M9 Q1 Z" n3 \3 ~buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
y' ~4 x4 b( _: T3 Sare spaces.+ \6 z% t/ J3 v/ o* d; d: k; Y
1 T$ f4 l7 L8 G2 ~There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
2 q; u& e; C7 h# z/ r- ]% fto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they5 K) P1 T$ h( B
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 V* x! c" W" \; o: |* z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
- @- i9 R0 h: a; P* Z" t0 Oparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the# m7 b: K1 s" q8 E
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few/ f, p" s, `" z3 _2 u7 _
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of. R7 n6 A0 s. A8 q! Z7 ]
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& C! X$ P7 z: T. l" N2 U2 N2 _
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.4 l4 A2 M9 y0 ?& R) Z0 Y
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
