我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living0 `6 j# N" O* Z8 g
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went' F* B P; w" |4 ^5 a! d
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; D7 ~9 l9 B) Q. C' E9 A( [$ U3 V& Z
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% H/ s; G5 q2 B' v) N6 O
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; ^( z' q/ M% T0 }" f7 J; i- l: D9 Q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
! h5 b& j! }% Kout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 y" u# F. X* h( C. a4 A" A
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" f# `. @! _' D! `
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 F& I; R/ M7 \; J) F7 q3 D8 E- w* xmedical schools.9 [3 K0 i0 j7 {+ p1 g& x
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
H' u( R7 s! Q( agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants3 u' Q* N& |# ]' ?4 ?8 t
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years6 V, r$ F b- \9 Y
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; G7 z0 S( |! C/ {: q& \7 iis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! J5 ? e3 \; F
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
' H+ W2 [& L8 Z2 ]4 mseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' _7 X0 J+ e5 X4 Q
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
, a2 ~& ?3 i+ @ y( N# `shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
9 q: }8 ^* T; c$ ] y4 ^# csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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' E4 c! z. l: \* ?$ n5 |The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
: y8 z5 d1 V/ k" j. G) xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* o) Z t" e. d# }4 H- t
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! L3 }/ }1 H6 h$ D$ Q
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good# p2 D. a+ p0 n+ _% n) \
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
, T+ h2 |" D: E j$ x P- v& Qsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high/ d, y4 E, m0 j7 C- B0 z4 N
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
" I, E1 K9 k* `) D- MDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 k5 } U4 t% ]9 @: }) N) n# o4 C6 D
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
3 F9 z& B& u7 C/ e2 kcharge the fee defined by the state.
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' m, ]2 \4 z) cThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
8 y8 G* z% Q1 c" Eon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type; X) ~8 a- H* e% A2 r
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
6 d. u6 ]6 ~+ `7 d2 Z; S) Y) p1 Ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel' @- [# o9 F! |/ }& R
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the- Z/ v0 R5 K) _9 N
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 \: @5 K% X+ A4 o/ k/ r
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
; `# y3 j w: o; s a Hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. {1 Z# ?3 e/ V- k7 x. xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" l- _, |5 J u
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" G6 N& M0 ]8 g1 M! ppeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
: t% C5 O' k' ?to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 h% S1 p) }" A ^
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there$ q3 T) P* z* {2 e ]
are spaces.# m: d8 a e' @. B0 I, s6 l6 Y1 |3 q/ l
6 c Y* J0 q5 h% g: N gThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" y# [- O' }( |, L9 D# O; A
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
1 j9 E7 {: V4 E. z6 B6 Eown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 ]9 N! P: o& I2 c D( b& b2 J1 Y
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' [8 c# H5 H/ L0 l8 Vparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 M* W2 K2 L7 W9 D2 u
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
) r$ J- W1 D: s9 rnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 D; C2 V1 t& ]7 q" C8 U! acar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it# n5 r. @ R% [3 d
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 R0 z7 S& C; N8 u3 z2 K7 p1 p We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
