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# S+ U" w9 c( h: c6 ]* X
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went6 Z: l- Q* e7 `; S3 S6 z0 D/ K
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,( L) ]; H0 s5 l+ H4 W2 B, i
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: s2 V+ n+ S# C, b7 |& R" B q
answers to our pointed questions.* `( f* I7 |- A# L2 ^- b ~
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* R7 u7 F/ S: Q% A, [
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! Y+ t6 X9 `3 A" d, }! E. D3 C
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is" b8 c) z; V2 q! l. j/ \% b$ r
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
2 F/ a6 V" o3 V Bto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
. ]+ S Y0 f2 i5 O& B- U; tmedical schools.
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5 q" y0 f4 O' E, ?Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the8 Z% E4 y& g7 Y+ y( h1 F/ g& d
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants' r/ g' a7 H4 f; a# w
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
+ S* U8 ?! u7 A; Bassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! ]6 |% ^+ P5 C' i( U. `2 t* V2 sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to5 s! _+ e- }. b! l. T
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" K8 i0 W- c3 |/ F5 y3 H
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ^! a/ D7 t3 [9 ]! a$ e
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# a M% R+ e3 S
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ z0 J; a$ I# M5 b& G4 \sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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/ m0 `) Y/ T! ~0 o2 A7 F+ eThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 Q( T6 ] S( A+ T8 }" o3 b
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* P$ d& P% W J D: S9 e6 hsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 ]; @- L; v& E! Z* H2 }
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good# m% u9 b9 A7 X( ^1 b9 ~
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby, \) c4 Z' S1 u8 k, v) }3 r
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
. b# {3 q* x" y4 Ydivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
- n' l8 Q2 E3 v) }Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, U$ M9 Z* E" u6 S! ]* J! `
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
8 {, q" l2 t: Scharge the fee defined by the state./ _* _& [! M# r
* e8 X: G& n" e# \There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get, F% b5 {/ U8 V1 {( {
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 R) v1 I) c" W3 G5 u/ ]7 b/ Y
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: T$ d' ^4 d- }: Y# X6 m5 `truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
; f; |( v7 g f, }8 m( Lseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
2 ?' M4 C9 n" A: ^& nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on3 M! y4 L' V2 E+ p8 u
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
2 _8 f7 ` E8 _9 Syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" x" Z, a0 y5 E% @: Y
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch4 f, m% M a3 d5 z5 b' Z9 s* h6 S0 }
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
) |+ V% @2 |7 M9 Vpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
9 N6 R+ V( y) |# Nto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or1 m& p+ A9 J; t7 v5 [7 q" g
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# t! R: O! J" O3 X
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
' w6 k1 n. R. M. I) J# t, Eto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# V% I) I: L) M0 ?, Y
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the9 ^: B( @! q+ i: r: M4 F; K# w
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
/ `7 K8 I) V. Z mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the0 o+ L3 S/ h6 V
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few8 t M" ]) h. ~. V' {. B3 h- _; d
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ Q8 N( r. Z' [- y7 T
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ R' C" s7 {" t
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
% [# f0 v U5 Q5 L( g We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
