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
- \! i* w8 o- f( T. q1 Y! ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went: R2 J9 D: x5 ]6 f* X) O7 S6 O) a
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
- j' W/ p( p/ x% L; u9 b1 \"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, }8 w+ H+ | C9 K3 G: L8 u. z4 \/ G
answers to our pointed questions.# q5 B2 F5 R: j2 ]& J6 C
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 {4 k) Q8 b0 j) U# ?45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
# O1 h& @' b- }. E$ S) |out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is' @# ~9 r* }5 f3 C" d9 o, D
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ Q9 d/ [% S) b$ E, @- a
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& Y" I: ~: ?* d5 P' [9 z6 bmedical schools.
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# D# e3 q2 J+ C& @Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( Z V# Q& H7 \9 S
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants/ I: p: J1 ]; f+ R w3 B- U
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 U' w0 l; u: L2 R) T( X) \: z2 k
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba! ^6 K0 C/ E. r. D' C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
! L! p" ~6 ^ J% |; y. Zover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
/ H: L) j: V, b1 [. x1 P F. O8 Wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
l9 o$ r9 @1 a5 M$ b5 ymostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk3 p" a; O# W; C/ a& V/ n
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some% h: J) U3 e3 l1 u; L9 p% T- O. Q% i
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# h/ S3 \2 U7 C5 {
# j$ o. d) R+ H. E$ X" ~4 E" O% GThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
, b& |9 W1 `0 g: C( Aprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 T; r5 O* }9 O
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people3 q# q6 {5 N2 h- \% Q$ f
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
: x2 z8 k0 o- @4 y" D5 U' d, W3 Ything about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby& A) ^5 u' I4 D5 f4 Q' n U
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 j) q, a- Q2 x8 ?! b/ ~
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.; A* x4 `& \5 H) S7 n
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When9 k n% `* P/ x- d( d+ D
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
: q; O+ a. f* s3 S. x2 W+ Ocharge the fee defined by the state.: Q3 R1 q0 y4 B3 _* ]1 M0 ]9 F
' @2 v- d/ p7 G; DThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
9 }4 f* R i5 Q* B+ E8 g1 {on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
7 M% h9 H; d( r+ y' i) K$ cof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big3 U, m5 E' {7 b8 o5 V, L2 q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: f$ f0 l- [& G* dseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
1 y) W% i! A) ^& I* jworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
; Q }( i% z! Bschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ K2 M' S! E M1 H! D* M! w
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people7 v% |" e8 Z/ i8 z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch3 `/ ?3 K6 W+ b8 C
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 \* U& v4 u3 ]8 V) i
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
# F# c7 r, W) P* a" Kto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or9 o- s }) B# Y3 r- L* ^& E1 F' s
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there$ A. ~% r# k- H1 m
are spaces.
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* L; U: g2 O, `9 Z+ }There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 D9 p0 {" Y2 E0 Q( }$ e$ b
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
9 I5 X: t/ p9 Lown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
! ~- c% Z d9 @5 b9 x40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
7 O k3 l- R/ Q: ]6 l0 i' Uparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the( m% n5 ^: c: Q$ }6 ~6 j; A
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
' U6 |9 N% J. T+ }* Y# y7 D( s. P4 ~# |nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
6 N- Y! Y* V9 ^7 u( pcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ H9 ^. r9 [# O
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
" {3 f: |9 X( S! M" B We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
