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
- R6 ?$ M% f7 Z7 zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went: L' |0 G, R* x l: }2 K2 C
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
. u3 D5 p6 y) M# c+ p6 u( j( E"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
) f9 ]% z' r; J0 w$ W0 \6 E; ~answers to our pointed questions.( Z; T. t$ F s, b5 J, g3 h" T
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, R& Z) O" a' z0 q7 Y
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
6 |6 `% t8 d: v4 k6 {out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is7 t3 S/ w {" l" X6 n, c6 y3 k
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams, \, j! g m" @) L) C! m& `
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# H# W( j9 M2 p- M
medical schools.3 q, e$ \$ s4 Y& i
5 U( `* }% G# m& m. z) u9 iEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
$ I: T, \& ?: f% o r6 s! Agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- n& f3 W6 ~1 F' x; Nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years! h( Q, E" b, @$ s+ U; y
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ y( v& G9 M% ? D9 m; K
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
- R5 T# f3 m0 k C& mover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% C' }' p8 p* A
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) a! P8 r. _- s( E' _& z
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" J( J2 B, l, c I2 f
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: C2 f& R% C x0 e% vsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 X$ P# q8 k% D- ]' M7 ?- V
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
1 O# {' |5 T5 L; O+ N2 R# y. Nprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
# C& R8 y: {3 R1 ]1 wsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 k: F2 O% V3 O% r7 M; v
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% H3 P8 k% P; w& F: l1 tthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby6 s/ p" v; D0 q9 Z! f; h, c
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
+ b: `) U j1 @. H) `# r+ Bdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.! X" c4 j" p. H1 B
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
0 p+ ~* {) L; T' f, ~$ H! J* La lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
2 D- j. h: E$ B: ~6 U: S! i; acharge the fee defined by the state./ C! F B4 t( K
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get6 c6 O% z+ i' G3 H- c
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type1 i8 i& W9 M+ n0 g3 f7 @# I2 u
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big F5 b- `& w" u& R! \
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
$ {) ?7 G8 j' c) q/ zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* M" v% [/ q7 m* {
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on5 q c/ Y) {/ u4 U
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if) V5 c9 Z3 O2 s5 E7 O' Q
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* j3 C+ n0 r' e8 P: O2 `8 ntrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
1 h. d6 ?0 \5 K/ [. N' A3 phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
! A3 R) g9 l8 t6 P' x: upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
1 b7 Z1 Z3 ~1 x) I) qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or: {# a" ^$ L0 h* s3 e$ R$ C
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
' b; T) P5 h1 Z. R% K! R; h% yare spaces.0 m Y( ?7 C- ~; x
x( R1 `$ Y) ?1 [/ c/ YThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ u& a- E% \6 a6 ~& V7 d1 Q! X" [# {
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they/ N( o& C+ K/ [ G3 B( R/ u" X
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
% f) P+ f! F; n! s! q) E2 K40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different n! T/ \( O: M0 c
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the9 E# Z% C, t- n3 U& i8 w
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
- Y9 _5 N# C$ w& j! c$ fnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* y0 P) w- t1 T6 T
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
+ |- {( t; b7 v3 H5 E5 F& _: n8 pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., u3 L. z5 d5 c8 M
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
