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
' ]: {) x' k* ]0 @standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
- c" A6 ~3 N2 q# j: k% Aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
$ y) O j, d% o ^! T% n"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
& C+ d! P6 R' ~2 qanswers to our pointed questions.# Z4 a' ]& m( s1 l. X1 e- k/ j8 M
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* z* U3 h( j1 V4 r' M
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
% Q9 O2 R; \/ n; h$ a% \out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# |0 Q* Z' b+ ]. {
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
) Y! T& H7 c; z& `+ T+ h( n2 Rto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; @6 f$ P. n8 @1 s2 D* X$ A$ M- |! \medical schools.% n, g3 }2 t- K r4 D
: w2 X( K5 x7 p$ Q- rEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
3 g! y+ k! A3 l4 z! e& U: Xgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 ^3 S; i, P, h# {
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ?0 C! i0 K& u+ @( v0 ^9 r
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
" ^) |! m( Q7 Ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* q# S! V/ e3 r- B: z
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* f! g7 K/ l( y/ B0 b% H; ^$ R/ ^seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
4 k6 }7 f1 x$ Z! S3 E& Zmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
% @7 ]# a# J7 ~ V; _8 vshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
; y5 X2 f% L% q% R2 G& @sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 e4 U' `2 C) F& W" `5 g( B
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ ^ ]2 W( K2 D, v
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
X* G" K$ Q* S, E( V6 z1 `8 U4 \) msupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 |' {1 O+ |7 ?+ [( r: N$ Y% N+ @
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good B4 k' O2 z' S4 W# f1 l
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby% d( K' e6 x e8 P1 x4 z M
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high' K8 s7 c: n, q# }' X2 _% a
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; D. L x- i2 C! Q j: @Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When7 E% a3 w- ~* q" l, N
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% S( c+ w1 W7 E' T- D, ^/ [' m
charge the fee defined by the state.
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7 g5 n1 W& k! i: {. TThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
( U" A1 i8 x6 l6 Bon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 t* z% \: n$ K" ~of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% d$ K2 o+ J7 c+ O) Wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 v9 n" M1 e1 W' h+ ]# {. J
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# J" X. I, w$ {& L- G8 g! |/ {9 Y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
0 Z- h. n9 t# N# ]# x3 bschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 H. Y+ J. V9 z4 ?) V7 [ X( k h
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ s7 f2 _) m9 {# T4 O
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# Q8 ?7 S2 F! b! l; K) S* x' Ehiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
/ e, U# t4 m6 k: @: |7 ?( bpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 Q: o# l1 {; A* M
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
0 ~: V. N% T+ pbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
' K- w0 v. G( C4 v6 m- F4 u7 care spaces.5 ]. T& ]" b2 @0 O: K1 p( ^9 r3 t
$ M3 c7 r' D) ~6 k) L" y1 \; FThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
U' ]8 k- ^0 A" lto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they0 x; k0 j' `6 S+ C) Q
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ N# k9 \% S1 c3 h9 N' n40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
* d u& W$ t2 W7 \/ I9 y; V) i3 qparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
' }: R5 d( ?# }8 Kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few( d2 g& q5 C8 a9 O
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
& `# @! k+ {9 O" fcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* r8 W8 o8 R3 A/ K2 ?, ^! his a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned./ b) D+ b$ t; L6 j+ a+ X
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
