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% |. N/ V& H) S( O' x6 `
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
^5 G: F9 N: l. h, {; r" d: O/ yon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
9 F w' E/ p Y4 s, _& y"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: Z, ^# C) Z: s5 {& z. `
answers to our pointed questions.
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9 {/ c+ o0 J- h; @2 wThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 {3 r6 o7 S: u0 ]; q2 Y
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ t. i" F0 D' e; f7 @! x7 o
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is F" D; T& L# E( N6 M% s S1 E
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
* k% a+ a+ ]4 Y, rto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! @: j" q: I6 p/ l4 R3 N
medical schools.1 e, U [7 }( \
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
/ Y+ S m; Y! A Rgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants# A; [7 Q* _3 {# |3 N; d# b
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
0 }& l8 k* D P' |0 Eassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba3 _. j0 b8 L: ?6 ` u
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to1 C; |) P1 s! K& v' h8 n7 n2 @: q
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* y! k, y# O* K7 h; n2 X, P( z" dseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
; U8 G- J4 T# mmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" W/ T) x$ \+ `$ w" ~
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
9 o+ N# e4 B. o# p- Lsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.5 X4 X; s# E6 ^( ]( h: B2 ?
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 y0 {- P) g$ ~( |
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and' Q# c; f9 |3 ?
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
9 T+ C- h# X, R, [4 \3 ?% shave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good' j; T i# m, D! y
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
2 r- o: h4 o0 N$ g S2 M: j5 d+ @sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high8 {1 y3 v" Z2 C1 D2 ?8 [' i3 c# N
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years./ d6 N6 O- u, @' s# o/ r( I
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
- } I5 A% C9 g4 T/ K- k; ?" }4 wa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
* e+ G, d4 c! q, Z1 xcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
& M2 @. T2 W- z p# yon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ T- M- a; c% [3 S+ L5 M5 pof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& E& ^, s+ g9 {! d: U
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
6 U2 G2 R4 X; Iseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the, o2 I6 {( i1 o( X
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on/ h5 ~1 F9 T- _4 i
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ f: h+ @" |4 m5 I0 O
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
2 Q1 K. G3 t' U! y6 M: p. M% xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
6 [% s6 e: d- M! { {' a0 ~hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that& b0 u5 d( i+ G7 O: ]( M- I3 s
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( p8 E6 e5 j- R7 C# b: p& ^to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 Q1 `! |) i: G9 }3 [$ A1 S4 n
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
3 X/ M4 D' `) `. B8 Nare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
4 O2 }( h# O* kto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they6 v; a% T! K, m& L4 T/ V& q8 p
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
: h& e' y0 \3 i2 @- O6 ^( o40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
# O- n" n2 @) G( ^/ q! vparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the, Z! J. I7 b: M g" l$ C3 x
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
, B" h, K. Y9 u A ]. Rnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
J/ x5 k) q4 V2 c' T9 G1 Ucar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" D+ r/ U3 N$ v; cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., I5 ^( I, N% |3 y; r* b
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
