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% D8 ^0 {" p9 m* P) R$ w( I D
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went, [/ L/ \0 P' Q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,5 n4 k- t, `! Z3 ~' u) D# A
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
2 I V4 Z" P" C8 D7 P; v+ K3 zanswers to our pointed questions.; X" I: o3 t9 y K
6 p6 Z4 U$ Z& P8 TThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,3 p6 J. _8 A" i3 B
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
3 V$ U# s: n% b& xout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is& c4 W( j: y1 H9 C: |$ L/ L$ O
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
, z. B+ w& r; ]to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) h( q) O- f0 ]' x" }, P
medical schools.
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7 p! P% ]. | k. \2 M2 XEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
2 u5 a) ^6 s% D8 V0 z) Sgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
: G% p6 r$ C3 _4 a/ Q2 mto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
" V& a) N6 ^0 K) r6 a q/ ~, ~- zassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
9 o: Y" |5 g3 X- y% Tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* E; `) U9 ~$ v: `% d. @. z
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
4 k1 \/ o5 ]: P C/ B" qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 ? Y1 W4 s& \- {& C: _mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
) [* D8 o M9 b) o- b; _7 Fshortage which the government is addressing by converting some( Y+ V- A& J5 ~* z+ ]3 x
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., J2 }# i9 J3 c0 R+ @) E8 F6 t
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 N8 N! d4 @2 B* A; A9 e
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
1 C3 @* B& ? R3 d7 T' ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
% v8 T1 U* ]5 \" ?/ Chave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" n' a6 {+ Z7 U4 z0 X
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 O) V- J# L; ^( C$ l5 asitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high2 k" S& Z6 y/ B
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 C, M( t) u3 t% e2 K9 Z, MDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When7 U& l6 M- T$ q2 p* ?5 e
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 T; e, r" ^$ ^ d& j; f$ g& ]- v* Ocharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 S5 T ~3 |$ m/ D! W
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ W3 p. U! f0 w; o$ F; bof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- P/ ]$ C8 k/ k: p" q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel {3 I' T! j, ~* z
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' \( g0 l4 ^! p9 a9 _4 A, A
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 p8 W/ Z/ {+ V" a7 |
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 R! r9 b4 y0 D
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
- S! h3 S m$ }/ i! x- }1 W! htrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' o/ J' J" A% o/ l6 k7 w( E4 w
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
( q5 ]% B. F+ t( Cpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 z) _3 i6 ?& [
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 U) ~- v) G5 }( k" @: Z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ `# R: q6 z I. i
are spaces.! k8 B" o9 B s; C5 b1 |
0 g- O/ y! L5 P, p( C( GThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 I0 j4 N& X0 _) }7 }
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they% q; U( ^% m! i& x0 c. m. w
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- u3 u- ?( u Z$ r, `2 ^1 B40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
0 k) J4 z" ]$ \7 j; Xparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the+ O9 D3 L+ ^! Z S, B* f* y! P
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
: \1 _( _- K5 }5 e' G) ~+ \nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 z& l) U# n* b% `3 jcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( n) M) Q' b7 a, y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
. B3 O7 e& }; W% b* S/ }. ]5 Q& E+ P We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
