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) U- R5 u& t _0 @2 v
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 \$ F0 U# h+ J, \
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,6 V6 f, Y( |2 V# K9 A0 {2 Q" `9 d
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give' m7 B, t O! u: q6 p5 ]! ^
answers to our pointed questions." I! |5 J, [" j. L+ Q
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
6 Q7 t1 ? T, u45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand3 N7 `/ ~* w! i/ T6 g/ c7 N0 p4 S
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
* @$ H6 R$ y$ G3 Bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 t2 F3 b' m7 [+ }- Y+ _
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ i$ u" v1 d: c# r' u- _# Qmedical schools. P5 S8 b. k) E+ ^$ z
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% c5 s) m; Q/ x+ L
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ ?( G3 j1 c$ ]. Z, P1 G
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
" a" I8 Z6 z% Z! I' F8 E: p" cassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. D: l1 z. b9 T6 vis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
" G! W( g# J+ {, r. i1 Wover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
- \/ x) j2 n( Z( P, bseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
! I+ T# |0 D, d6 i, |mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
. T* |* E# a$ q" yshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
( g9 Y: a3 |8 p H) f2 }sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* o$ m5 g3 l6 z: a6 a4 v3 [
5 ]& r5 k1 T. M, _# R) e2 ~The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
" V3 c& a8 F8 X7 o' i2 Sprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
( s- e; N# ?5 rsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 H4 p3 X2 A1 s+ S1 X4 h, c& N
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" E% _) h( k3 O. l% b
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
6 y2 I# [" ]" E) tsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
/ c( S& E+ |$ x# H8 ~divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 d5 x/ \) A) B
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: |# r6 ?. p- f! k8 m9 J5 wa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
: w: v* B8 Y/ F5 M5 Ncharge the fee defined by the state./ l; n2 K }1 B ?4 B' R+ P
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
- Y% Z$ i& p# l5 j/ G- D6 Zon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ G/ k' ], | o- Y$ d
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ g1 R4 {2 _! L2 Wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
# {, a+ T( ?; g1 a& x( tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
, S. N7 |; Z! K5 Nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
5 m, U/ w1 X A4 t' k, m+ lschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! x; t! P/ T7 \. f/ T1 D5 {# m' @
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" l O* y/ c3 y7 j
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch7 d! T% R5 i L
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
7 Q# g9 l1 A2 V, F& B$ Upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
/ v6 H1 r* ~% y% u' W% n, I; Qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or( V4 l* m- M- d, [5 O9 o/ R$ j
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there/ H) [9 e2 [/ c- E" |
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 n' Z) Q$ z6 l! @6 l
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ r( d# U; E1 @9 G) N$ }( _
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
. s5 g) X/ \' I3 {9 F: F2 P40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& `9 b, W4 J+ s+ E
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
4 t v- F9 n- {7 ^, F! [; rbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& r( b- v5 v0 _: _# ?9 ]7 ?
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
* `) }; h" N) G- O" N+ j6 U0 Xcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- I% i9 p+ b1 k2 G# o& G
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
w3 k; a4 h) H! L' v$ z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
