我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living9 N" o) K- X3 R
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went( j1 U8 ]% Y; _5 P( I. r
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
5 b u7 q8 M1 L) \& P"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ j! E9 ~% C9 p) p' C V
answers to our pointed questions.
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! J6 d( v1 ^" m' |8 K0 U& C' ]The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,5 n/ l( p2 ~& x& A$ C
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
, [3 }$ v# X$ B1 Gout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
+ H* ^* j9 l5 R% V. @free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams8 F! h8 H1 X n& C' @
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
* B" d) S/ q/ a& jmedical schools.6 ` ~0 i1 I" y, O0 d
* r2 |8 H& n t8 yEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% y: W& f9 D7 A4 ]7 J
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 G, h0 ?, x1 F$ M
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
+ X8 \, f1 Z( ~1 T. a2 `assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! @9 m) Z" `& J) a# O# ois from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to5 Z$ H3 W4 S1 ~2 P# ~8 I+ k
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 G, o( M& L- B! u
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 v; q% R/ k4 H: _; z7 b. ^
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
, P, C0 I$ X6 u4 R) X; Tshortage which the government is addressing by converting some% q, j, Y7 @9 r* c
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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o) F i8 I3 b9 d! u, G/ N! ZThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% {. Q1 @! a; V; E- q! `
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and) ?3 v3 ]/ e9 Z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people* y5 ]1 o0 F$ ^* c4 F& ]6 n: _
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good1 p* {$ `2 x6 I( e9 |) t" @) q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ Z( E. t! X/ G
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high$ n/ M: I% g# T" o7 D
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
& t. i, s* C1 U7 ~5 aDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 R/ @) C; |2 t% F
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only+ \. }" c: B. R
charge the fee defined by the state.% \5 o2 d6 V' q7 v& K; D% q
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get' r+ n: ]) |/ O7 s" r
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
; _* U# A/ i8 Aof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, u2 L% t% W g Etruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel5 W0 i# D4 t: q( P) j4 h: ]5 s
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
: ]( n; P6 h0 B) l; T. a( Y: ]8 _working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 P, g5 A3 K1 G/ j9 g3 `
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if. y& A0 o' n d' \& L
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people& q- t1 l. M: C4 N; j
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
4 ^. j3 Z( r3 |" }hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 G2 ~! C4 ^# B( I
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 V. W& L" K; m1 Y5 Kto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
3 \; q- q& B$ d9 w9 Pbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 |3 `& F5 u9 Z$ N
are spaces.$ y: z- f. W( y
1 s4 s7 o# x. s# ~$ D+ J0 o3 a3 lThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
& ^& i7 y$ V% s1 Hto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& q' a. G% K" w# a0 I. g0 ~/ g
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 a# ?. v, i, w( |- h- U. d40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different: M' |& B0 R: v" s* I0 N7 S
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the0 N5 z5 f7 L; y2 J
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" Y/ Z- Y( |6 S4 t
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
: Z' F4 f$ G; f" Bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 G9 k8 T: o( o ~" v
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
% n0 w. u3 x$ t/ A K/ o We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
