我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living4 e+ k4 {* e, q( t U
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- k) f6 i/ o {: M; ]6 P$ B! L
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,/ O8 j( q4 p& R8 ~
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 o, B: E, J. e0 F
answers to our pointed questions.% @8 o' F4 m& S& H
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
8 w$ Q. t, G! G: @7 g0 P! N45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
+ c+ F' M& D$ iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is& S: T4 t0 w+ j/ g
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
# c i1 a5 w) e9 lto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
4 w1 a1 B) D5 @0 a5 ~2 nmedical schools., d9 }$ i. e) u/ |
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the0 c6 u: X, T, U. A
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
/ c5 q; t; Q$ Oto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
& p- P5 O5 x& s" Z' p' U: C& }& ^assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
1 o O) [: T* m- B% p/ K4 C( vis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
2 |6 Z+ [- x, {$ z0 gover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
/ ^8 [2 K: {. A; {, kseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, ?0 G* Y( Y* `* ?
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 x& q/ C/ X6 _: `7 [$ T
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some# i" `9 K2 c& y' r# t
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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0 N+ V ^ M) _% `. ], m+ ZThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
$ g+ K# s- I8 h. c% r( e1 ~/ m4 Cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
. S# u, }0 C" |' w; Bsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people& W p2 s) B0 V2 e
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
0 Z- l1 @- V" V7 |# xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby1 {- T# R/ U \$ s- v
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
4 G8 ^2 U$ [+ B4 P/ f2 u! Mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 K4 v) Q" N- l9 R6 i
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
. C7 ]& A4 F3 @+ F, l! i% z, ?a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
. u% u% y) c4 @8 X+ L! e, v, Mcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get W) U0 K& F5 Y
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, i" h9 l: @' P: f1 z/ a- V2 K
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: p) x1 p( u9 O# B# z; t
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: W1 x9 I3 k/ X: [3 p
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
7 Y, s |- \1 Vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
3 L8 J3 j6 @9 ~9 n+ [& R( W! {schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* }- k" ~8 w' L5 s' b7 X" kyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
9 |8 Z) @6 u7 U$ y/ u. otrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 a# I/ t0 r9 b3 k4 G4 m/ Whiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that* {* X& ?+ B7 q* X
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want& u6 ^2 }" }9 t5 r, U! L
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
/ h" K$ N2 |! i9 S: ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
; L: m' L( i' f+ k5 U4 g% ^are spaces.
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2 @& c8 K7 Z- Z( P$ {1 TThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 ?, F* i* c7 e! [+ b1 k+ Z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
: S# P0 \) i( Gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
! |+ S6 j# \( p) B$ A40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 a! c3 j3 w0 B3 e* ^' i
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the' h8 D8 W( g5 J
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few7 ?3 h% p8 A, `( ^2 h
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of; y1 E- j& }7 P- Q: M4 v3 O
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it0 H7 l" Q9 Y. n
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.0 e4 ^0 E4 i# P6 J$ ?* N, J
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.