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
9 [* Y k- }0 L& [. F0 j, vstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went& ]$ o- e+ d/ f; a3 a+ S
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,5 g6 s$ Q$ p' o. q9 N
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 Z1 r- ]; b( U0 X, v1 L, i! r6 U
answers to our pointed questions.# W9 S$ s: V' P2 d8 T( A+ J: X0 o
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,% \ f4 @0 S* D; F
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 s9 ~4 y- m; y1 W
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
$ g7 X( R" o0 G. S' }free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams# ]% |" J# l/ {# w/ }
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
# K. J6 r) N# M2 ^( d( Jmedical schools.0 d2 g; d6 j6 R0 c# K: ^/ F
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
. s, {% y: t2 m( ?5 ngovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- L& {+ N" T$ s( ]
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
% O3 b2 F! z8 }& kassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
9 k5 H) X+ g+ }# i2 cis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to4 ?) R& b' u8 K! c) N4 C
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* b% F8 {6 Q8 }; t' P+ H8 rseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
8 f& p5 c: s# b5 X6 q) m: D$ o* K4 qmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk0 ]$ a5 p1 A3 i8 w1 J. A3 T" n$ c
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) c2 j) C8 Z* v, \sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.) K6 C% k; c- _5 B: Y6 K8 s6 I0 n, s
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no/ Y- g% i# ^& D' L: `4 G6 B
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
% t* h$ `0 t# S, `( ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
& b6 F* |) ]5 }4 ` q, R4 }" r. N6 nhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good7 c0 s- |8 _0 F5 z+ J
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% U+ ^/ O; [! j( |% usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
# r6 ~7 U$ N3 H: m4 v$ hdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.3 }$ g- C. K8 G: r3 D
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
( W2 E9 w. S9 p7 Y- K+ R& q/ @a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 b/ K$ W6 l6 U9 U5 P+ v( Pcharge the fee defined by the state.
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# K) Z9 b/ }0 P, y* lThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
( Z8 v8 @" [: Zon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type8 l, R5 `/ |' N+ u' {1 ~# c2 f
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. w' b! @9 B1 I- j( N: X9 }5 j3 a) Ptruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
1 q- A) ?+ Q8 i+ Z6 Fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 s" c, I/ _2 e" ?7 T
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
5 J5 \( y2 {3 z$ x/ H; uschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' f- {! C) D2 X2 E: [9 {- Hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
d& w5 w1 F3 R( j) t$ Ktrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
( D" |1 [- z c7 Rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that0 C; }8 e/ Q; ] K3 F
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
5 c. Y7 B0 z* l! qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) Y' I$ o& ^- o
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
# Z7 z& R3 @: s. A' k) Jare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
: Z1 M7 a1 h/ T& N; z$ Tto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they( ~& V. c6 w1 `5 T" o3 g
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) x1 h7 \9 k! f, S1 Y2 p/ _
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 z. N8 ^/ J2 ?2 ]# U
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 W) w8 k: X, ?7 F6 J2 |; Q S; j, ^* xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% B; O, T* u" `2 ~- n6 q) R4 r
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
3 l. @# R: z7 G4 f8 `car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
9 g7 G$ X, T: a: U/ ?9 Ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.3 k2 h3 w) |' [
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
