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
) `: J/ Q( b! O3 U* |9 Lstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went+ s6 v* D- v" M" A5 V9 n
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
& N0 p7 c9 I2 l V/ Q, s. r' G- L"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
+ e; G1 D6 h- E0 B$ H! ?2 wanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
6 W* g. A/ i7 c$ {: @3 B: }$ U45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand2 Y! e$ X2 u, S: q: h
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is1 F0 X+ p$ ]4 o) X! F" ]
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams! u$ i$ X4 c- C" ^1 G- ~8 N
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are; U, \* f5 C: o
medical schools.3 Q7 @1 r$ o; t# M+ T/ O! g
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the0 x: ^ H# R. [
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
! P! D0 L; K, o' M8 eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years+ V# j# e( u' [! n; {* i* [
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
7 `% B+ @7 N7 J' |$ t e7 lis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
# W! ?3 }0 F2 gover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
8 B! _ Z5 X! T/ Jseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 D8 X; [) D6 t2 |
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 V8 z; ?. {; `* T; `shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
& c# r4 ]1 T" G5 T6 K3 m5 Ssugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# u$ E& y9 i& u, d, s$ o p/ c
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# E. {5 _1 \7 H& u% U
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
- k4 ]4 C: T$ Nsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people" ?( k0 Y+ c! n: Q6 p* T- n
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
' p8 Q% I% N# w4 T% I. s% o5 Lthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
7 q/ J# q% b( X, L6 Y. O2 Hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
4 b& m. s0 U$ ]" M6 Ddivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
|, t% ^7 A+ l3 u7 P" w& y# \Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
, b- g c$ k% G+ c$ m( pa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) j% U) m- @' U' _, K; {% A1 K
charge the fee defined by the state.# x: @/ G% c& }, a5 Y+ y' y; A2 F
0 V/ u1 n: m" ]' V, z" kThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 _7 j& W6 L+ L, p0 z2 X. \
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type/ {$ n$ F6 t4 L) b6 Q/ H
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" B0 `0 D) J7 b6 I8 ~
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
7 q( a, i. f0 R/ X* K9 T7 `4 J, nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" P; M3 N F) A7 Y9 R/ c! m% d9 o+ E1 Dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ ^2 W8 b5 m( ^+ n$ b& a5 o- o. I$ r
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
$ A' }; H* M( ]0 v6 ^" Y; ~: v! P2 U% syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
+ \- ?7 v/ R8 z6 o7 `8 U; Ltrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 ^ p1 m: j$ h mhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 w2 G% v: c, I
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
: f& _3 y) L# P0 }- U0 U) Zto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! M0 M5 C: k$ a- z5 C8 ]+ s( }
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
9 r" g, Y7 {# i4 ^& {* mare spaces.; H9 z- L) @2 G( m
6 A2 }* c1 k( n, X0 j, W" D/ JThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
1 E. t# z1 d$ S0 ]! U+ Zto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
& @/ q: C2 U7 R; H( F" zown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
( j+ F* s$ c' @0 G' D, P4 B/ I) _40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
8 S3 }. u# z. U5 u4 Vparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 t \: O+ n' b# ], f! b
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
P5 o, L' S6 g- @& U/ D0 W( A9 `: Tnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of- `! I3 s1 Y; |, m K0 N5 S
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& `* ~: [. _2 dis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
1 p" A2 G0 g" S' D We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
