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 |+ V$ Y8 o( E- k; w
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went+ M; V: k0 _4 Z8 B, S
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
) O" T- [+ z/ B: X3 h0 q+ |"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: Q( }- E1 W& d/ E$ @ i1 Q: L
answers to our pointed questions.- B" U9 Q5 ?" r# G, J
7 I/ F* w! ], [! tThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
& e y( }5 i( h4 A* x7 w) T# |45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
+ |0 C$ e! m# v- }# d$ fout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
& Y( o- H* \% M, ]' W% Tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
1 S- m( \" \* n I) M! L5 _to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
, |9 w+ d7 d# w( i8 nmedical schools./ G* k3 p& }* W2 G& S. j+ f
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
|8 L, k& L: {' A% h& Ogovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants+ e# j! Y& U% w$ ~- ]( C1 ~
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years1 F Y3 ?6 C" g- r& n: f( [. O ^; n
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba. V- c- c6 C" a0 E& g
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to$ U* E! }+ u9 R. z/ Y1 @
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ ?- @+ `3 p7 ~+ w A
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and( s2 W2 J6 q& I. v/ H1 C
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
8 E: J1 c1 r# E' x( Z# d# Wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some/ N" q6 A9 @4 H- R
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.. O3 S+ `& c, P6 ]+ a# I
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ X- x- i! I2 M- i: K S! D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
: x6 H; I$ L" Nsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
2 ]# C4 Z/ K6 S0 Qhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
( T. \+ D) b0 j% A% Y$ f1 Kthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 t1 Z4 a6 l8 [* R% y9 ]9 Q
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 x6 }1 I) d- [1 ~+ [; [: k
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 S' n5 m" O1 d* n8 D
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When! ~4 n- V$ Q" @' D
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only- c7 ]1 ^: v5 H* O4 N
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get* k F$ {0 v+ l, [/ a* t
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
6 O" O4 P& O r# Iof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
c- ?. b$ K3 N1 c' m( ^truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
8 }/ q' u: @5 e' k2 Tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the6 o# |# O8 t% e
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" p/ }( D! M/ h7 [( m
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if" M: T, g; l k$ P. S: e
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people- G7 w% u5 F9 g, _2 P
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* k5 h D7 ^" M2 Ghiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
- s. D9 n) V* P [1 d8 c/ @people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
2 y& ~2 z# P+ p- i# t5 \) Sto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& `9 o; l+ O! J; j1 k0 z$ G5 C+ s
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there9 j" Z+ g- n7 b3 L$ F! H+ e* x
are spaces.7 P9 s3 Y! n: K% d
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 L' O( _) t! i
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they; Z. Q6 d2 c4 E: c- ~
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
. [9 n3 q }* U, |6 R6 r! O40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different- Q! u3 ^1 v: }: l6 c- ^
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 m3 T& |7 Y* f
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 }0 B8 c2 G# B$ S! tnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 A9 r9 _/ \7 L; s, l
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it2 M9 u0 Y# p& T' ^
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 @( N, g |0 ?0 U `
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
