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
& K* H' a: U1 r: e7 c5 m# Fstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
6 r# U' n$ p7 Y# S# W- con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,$ Q& e/ x1 U1 e
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
" V1 }- y* l) s! \! v+ k7 v0 c" lanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
D. P1 g* X: Y: d45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; o! v; B9 d% L. o! k2 Y$ E
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
( O2 Y- ?1 U7 @ Tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; o* V& f0 V" Ato get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 z1 {5 I6 z( J, z) Z B
medical schools.. x. }; [* E2 ]+ s6 Y+ D2 h( a
r6 J$ p/ [6 ZEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
6 W$ \( w( h- u+ l: v$ @government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
, K' f' w4 b/ H* e t! Ato go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
! N' s* J% ?7 k ]assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
* } E. q8 O4 h6 G# ]3 Yis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% Y9 |7 {9 n4 V7 K5 Z- N) y
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There: P. ^0 l( M$ z0 s! d
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and3 ~9 o u. L* o2 a: J. ]3 }3 H
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: ~. N% n2 ^) l' M- A2 S4 G
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
& `: X! F. @( [sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.. [, L4 d+ [/ ^6 U' w
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
: V4 u' m; Q, | P# V4 k' u" vprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, ]) V. e; M( @& O% |) Z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 `5 M3 J4 l8 t; ]4 [7 o( H- o a
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good, e4 B# A7 n; R$ h# e6 Z3 e8 D M
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
, [1 q' F% [ bsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high- g; Z. r* i+ s% \1 J
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: b# d! x, S. D0 [" G$ @7 W
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 \: I& N) A3 O1 r8 w: ?
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
2 T2 ^9 _, j: f4 wcharge the fee defined by the state.. R+ l0 A) ]$ G( V. m
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: \0 K. H5 c+ l& v$ c% p- s
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& }. l/ M# t6 h! r) m
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big! `: c# ?/ I8 T6 |
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
K4 K: b1 D9 T; R% r' X6 sseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
1 ?& ]% I0 l6 V6 ]1 sworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on0 Z/ i8 o) z1 Q! q6 W3 x7 X
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: G! [ h6 Q. \1 {7 p0 u
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people' q( H1 }; B4 J, r8 o9 h7 A- p
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
; }& x; F5 V" Z3 q4 N8 }# chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 m3 m8 s# k) O. U4 i
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! T1 }% F! c: v7 N, ]+ V2 qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 o8 H1 x% U1 D* R8 o9 ]
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; B5 Y5 W% E, \+ L. Z3 M E) f
are spaces.+ v1 f( V' v. Q3 h' o
) b# k% s: x! V. JThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 A. I6 v# d8 E* Y7 H1 e/ D
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they. A' t, B( \! h8 ~
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 f' Z1 i$ o$ L7 [9 [
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
# C& s. S" K" t- {: _. C3 qparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
5 L) Z+ b( t7 @' z1 qbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few1 i9 f' H& P, T1 f2 d# U3 p3 {
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of A: y: E* A L; M
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
0 Q* Z* s: U. e1 y2 R+ t' Iis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
' g: `- B3 G& j' W! [+ e1 ~ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
