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% M& |% p* q0 F
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 @1 N* f% D S
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 z. D8 h) |/ v+ @ b. \"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
; z0 n( E1 w: e5 Q- a, u7 _/ S$ ]answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
6 Y; t/ D8 ~$ J1 z; f# p3 n45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
2 \/ Q1 m" [$ `8 Qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is3 E9 [2 h" N0 w1 z3 I
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
$ \6 e- P6 Y2 g# [( N/ N! Bto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are* @. \; H. e& v1 F- u
medical schools.
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) ?# _# D$ ^5 f GEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
) e9 c5 @: ~4 [" Ngovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
6 e/ o: E# C/ o9 |/ kto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ o8 x, @. i( d! O7 q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba" n0 k3 o o# p* N7 d
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to4 _- ^. c/ M% Q
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* U0 n, Z) k$ g/ F: P) e4 xseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
* ^, X+ P, d0 S, ~8 Imostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
( w$ C6 c6 K" Mshortage which the government is addressing by converting some/ {: @. W: o, f/ }8 @4 d, X
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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! w& _2 l* r: e. u) v+ u$ v jThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
2 b0 c4 S6 U7 F/ A2 qprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 B; o# K3 O3 D; K* `- V
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' y7 d+ ~& h8 S' |0 U) ~* Z
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- a: w9 M& g* a. d; j% K& m5 L! k
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ w- m4 u- q4 B! d- V
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high1 `# _: _; ` S, v
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
) G& d9 j8 x' @Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When' @* H% L: o# K4 |6 ^4 R
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: y! H s/ C" H9 j8 p
charge the fee defined by the state.
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( T% l' }4 Q; _1 ~% ^6 S2 [There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 i5 J$ V' Y. g# w: r& W
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type3 D' U, C7 M: u8 f" E6 d
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
) [+ l; v% X/ X0 K+ o" }* @- m/ Ytruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
4 S; C4 ?% X+ X: l; cseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
+ g/ J$ p) s6 _: h5 s, ?- \/ m5 gworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
0 i7 N# g6 \' F+ ~- }( P5 rschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
# C5 j0 E, ^/ e* Z* q; P9 M( g6 jyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
4 g9 C. `" V; M3 v; {2 r9 _: ^$ Ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! b- k% |; C% U, {* K
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 B7 ?/ q% X) u7 [: H) bpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 N- V; |3 R. oto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
0 y$ ?' }( _4 ?$ ]* l' D I6 ]( Ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, T$ }1 W- Y# o( g2 g# s- W4 f5 F
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
$ ^4 T B' P0 N+ M; \. S' M) ]# |to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 x! n1 B5 D" g& X+ P5 {, |own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
7 I6 o- [/ y' Y3 B; F) y40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! u; |, g$ ?3 Q" P$ D0 Q( ]' k
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 R2 |3 d+ U( }! d0 v0 vbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% m8 [" \5 f4 H- |* L: Wnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ j8 K" H% w9 i4 I* x
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it3 e7 O- u7 k, E) o
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
?( F3 b' K% W8 X3 Q6 @ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
