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
! ^, R$ X6 m" X: m3 T# Tstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went: D, S$ s7 y2 }' M
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; C2 E- \ g* M" ?
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
) X2 P, ?6 R6 q g$ g+ u& n+ ~answers to our pointed questions.2 _- E$ O2 z Z0 L6 ~2 K G
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
' I. D+ p0 J5 J$ A& M$ W8 k45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
" T0 @4 Z1 l( h* f) {' Jout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: F' E. X+ M$ A( N- @1 Sfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
1 c" w& J& Y! i& u! W0 uto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
( a% Q6 O% a. F& d* L, t* Gmedical schools." J% n5 y) O$ K+ h) H) @
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
; f* s+ e2 y! D. j! g( Bgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants' y# |6 {* f) a' L8 A
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years" i, v Z3 U8 S3 @! {
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
/ C# A& c$ V$ D5 C) Mis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 n, Z9 w2 y! n/ L" hover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, v# P& J: W& l6 Q0 _seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 J$ A6 L7 p* T% ?
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
, Q" f+ Q4 v. ]/ xshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: O0 y/ n( B, s& Nsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( H7 J: |/ g8 x' _/ W4 g* ^private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
H* U* w8 m" k0 b) @supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
2 j- G( a" L- T* ~have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good# y7 \! E( S! k+ B1 k5 w% o' R. c2 c7 }
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
; G0 O. ^$ A& X5 S$ \sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high' z: u6 f& B; n
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 Q6 u- f5 f9 C- c3 O6 pDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* }, X$ c- h) s+ y$ ^a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
4 ?( S5 D# r9 F: w8 W1 d- R* Z; Pcharge the fee defined by the state.& p- x& k9 I& N- B/ O
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get; n/ Z( y0 f* D j9 I$ b8 e+ |
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
# |( \; Z9 |% Zof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; q9 S+ B1 B8 s$ _& r8 U
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
/ [: E0 Q/ l. ]$ n# `$ Zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the( Z% s9 u! _* x5 L+ \5 {, T
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on+ o u6 s6 M$ k1 i
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if3 G/ v8 }7 v1 ` |1 G0 B9 |
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people: B; y" W$ {# W E) L" M
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! {- e7 I1 c+ w1 |1 P! D& vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that6 O8 s, \8 ^# Z+ Q* Y8 M
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want( I$ F( g5 W$ Y: m* M2 w
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
. b6 [* p# T% Rbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! b. ^0 M8 w }1 L7 I& s
are spaces.- K+ r" n" b# g0 e- C& O. }
, _8 v4 {) V2 }9 y, _" G3 SThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
' ]. H% l, _% R, y& ~7 Oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
& g) F5 ]- b- Q# P# wown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the; ]6 _2 I& Q. T" k7 P
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
8 S- p% {) M; t' a3 d: zparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
( D6 k2 ~! q" H) }6 Bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 R& w/ |% r6 knice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
9 u7 T! x3 u/ n0 Ucar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 m9 [1 b3 x" j) P- {% H! }is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 X& O7 T! U, y& O
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
