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
: M9 [( x& |+ o5 Gstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
3 h, e! e# W8 ]$ `* \# ?; _on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ B$ x0 b% ]4 L- S" c6 b! ^" F) J
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* u1 @" a) X$ W
answers to our pointed questions.. d6 w0 E+ K+ t3 r5 g
' R9 }9 U& X+ k$ c3 }& M( H1 E0 fThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black," ^* p6 k9 Z. v& H* Q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
/ I4 D( O3 Q) d. lout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ K0 i8 ?: j6 U! N1 U+ U5 s$ |
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
* j, G8 ~! t9 [# {, P4 [to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are, A4 h, X0 l) y9 v
medical schools.1 m. ?2 I2 @# N1 B
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" V& K1 d9 V# K' g: O( k t6 s2 p8 [
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
% s! ?5 E. t- M% K/ Fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 H$ ]8 ~$ E6 n
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- ~3 C/ M8 l# B! n
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
: [1 p/ R5 i6 jover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% z" A9 Z, L& E0 g' C
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
/ c' [; r# ?- u. c: | }& Bmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) H2 u5 q4 t t4 v' F
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: D$ c$ r: [+ r/ q! x+ |sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# Q- G% w% ?3 P& w7 t% E$ W
- X2 N8 [" I- mThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
8 f# J9 Y3 l/ vprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and! A. f# ~! B+ w/ C0 M
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people5 y0 ?6 a- ]2 I6 w( F
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
; V8 e0 C1 B# n, o- X; | Ything about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby; x; ^! U* U7 Z) t* a9 J, [
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) V1 s2 X5 a! v5 q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 A* L7 M9 V; Q% P! b5 @
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 j8 ]2 x3 C" O6 V; L' O
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) M4 L% b. e$ e: g! Q9 K
charge the fee defined by the state.* K- ~4 U- ~2 ]
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get9 \/ S2 [" ~- V5 X3 K- b( `6 T
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
) r, I0 a+ U2 Yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
( x# |# W' J% p( itruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 E7 m7 l. g7 T T
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
) h; t/ }; N8 f$ @2 f* Q8 Y" K5 P( Wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, g( {6 X- `/ }! _schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 o) K. Q: k7 _% H! c
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people9 ^ r3 Q9 L7 O; y( ?3 ]+ g
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch: u- D i6 M) u
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that8 O. A& I d! A! Q2 K4 Z4 @3 F& {
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want3 @- n& U) `$ H0 }& q
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
; n% h4 N; P& ~0 |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, B) E4 B' p, ?# J, Y" q$ q
are spaces.
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7 j2 P# u$ b. v: v8 F: ~There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ }! X) d7 O5 \
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they/ @3 N; l4 Q R( m$ I" S! f4 j% l t
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
1 P+ _# w1 ^+ W/ _, u/ v) L, U40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' Y& }6 i$ t% R6 x# x4 D# R: Q
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the0 r$ x" r Z9 P3 r) x
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
2 j# t j$ W$ W& C% R8 bnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
* r/ h( J5 k( |' \ j# Lcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( ?3 o% z+ J, a, k5 Q$ y8 X
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.3 Z4 G( K9 _" l) ~( e8 {
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
