我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living6 L# }% O2 t3 ^
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 w& i# d2 u9 K! X+ ~# Y' i
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,/ A& C* z2 S5 z
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! N3 f4 _8 o) {/ ]7 U$ qanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
& c/ x- K) [" r7 K- E4 _45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
8 T- `/ w" a( _ v; B% ~+ kout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
. N2 _5 T% d1 C# `free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams! [8 H) I1 ^) y
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are; ?# _9 H/ h# G& c9 ~
medical schools.
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$ Z5 n" z0 d7 w qEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 l' ?- m$ i1 g
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
/ R% h$ Y# ^, q8 jto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years* P% d" @8 X/ b: }% _- P: T
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, Y3 g3 E3 ^6 Iis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to1 O- h5 n9 I, {$ h2 v' L! V
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! K$ q- ~3 l$ g$ z" pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
/ k# h$ |# v$ @4 Zmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# C9 E9 N6 S' K# \( T3 Z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some, D# }7 K9 Z" S8 i8 B0 q7 d( i: k
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! _; _' }) {- P4 R7 M
* v! X# P& t# G& P# H+ {2 _The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no1 e0 T0 p+ t1 N7 q0 [
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
0 I3 f' }3 q6 p( e1 jsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! i8 w& ?% u4 o: K" V8 p4 G$ E5 |
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
6 s/ o* r h S$ x! gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
' f. H z3 o$ J) h% {" |5 nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
. d+ g5 d( }) g- N6 P5 U+ w& {( Zdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
- O5 R. q' N4 n* E3 \& C. b/ u& e! jDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
d p" I! L! Ua lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only- m+ f l1 `5 K+ T& Y d
charge the fee defined by the state.
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) F% J7 K1 p( s" n8 A' y9 z) }There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 W( R+ s! D; Y) ton), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! c. M& I) r. n( n7 i4 [, H( kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
# H7 L+ v+ T* c+ t1 B' Ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel2 C. N8 [! d: W3 H' a
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# f/ w8 E: O2 y- K, i7 ]: i* K* b
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on4 C) R+ U0 i; T/ b" P1 ^
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
5 w* G" f4 |( I2 w5 Xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% a2 D: l5 t4 p6 K" F
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% f' L. v0 A' ^7 R4 q2 Hhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
+ C5 \" W5 K; t2 `/ h8 o' Z5 |4 xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want0 O. S2 {) |- i% r& K3 X6 K
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
) f: c m/ u* k. z* b+ |: b3 e/ H: abuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
- J/ m7 W& e/ h- k4 nare spaces.3 f& M2 {8 U( l, f% Y: Z
& f3 a% B( C2 Y8 z* P5 ]6 G( ~0 SThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
) @. ~& ?" `9 S4 f- G0 pto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
8 W* K \2 G; R( Gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ U0 ?* t) D& H, `40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% W5 Q5 h* S! Z* v6 O6 R" d5 j2 r
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! P3 H5 Y' o4 m6 Z
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few, `7 W; a! A, v, _3 z
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of! p7 z* ~' M$ X+ l* V& S& R6 j
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it4 z, D8 p: o% M
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 @2 h+ S0 {5 x* _7 `6 A We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
