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
% S& \+ `3 e1 O5 Sstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 o& n' P9 ]- s0 _on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 @/ T9 y: u: {. T7 L' B# O7 H
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
- w( v# R) X# C/ B1 ?: kanswers to our pointed questions.
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1 e' p8 O$ @+ J' C' L; PThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,7 v' ]# ?0 v F2 f3 Q* @; [
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand0 |. I! I6 n% @2 L
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
$ z: @) t$ R/ {- J. A8 ufree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
0 U; C# X, Q" u2 o+ |to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
A5 R C5 P& u2 Vmedical schools.
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# P+ @# r& J) d2 H/ xEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
0 [( i+ J% q4 X1 A o: E% c9 Y! b9 fgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
3 s K+ h5 ^% }to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
6 B) S5 k# T7 Q7 x5 v3 R, Wassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba# ] w( M' S5 f7 F ]. S' c
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
* S0 P, v: A; d lover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
1 \- F. ]9 B5 Y6 _ [seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and* A) O- d5 P2 M, `. | d# y
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk' ]2 M5 e P9 ` f
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
4 w" ]( k/ ^; q, x; bsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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9 |: U0 r% ]2 n1 v! o* rThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. M# N7 I q* h5 B: Rprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
6 N! W$ l9 T7 P. j1 i s( q% J* r1 Tsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
" y/ o: D& h1 Z3 B! l" yhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 w @, _! S: y* S/ b
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby! A/ w- O% p5 M) c }
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
% k6 I$ |" x0 a6 N* {9 L, \divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) p1 C D! X! E0 I/ I# Z. N
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
) B9 r- g0 b9 J4 _: x, Aa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) U$ X( Z1 `/ y! d
charge the fee defined by the state.9 m, G: d* O, E: U1 I! Z
$ O4 M) c& @$ [/ P1 s1 X1 yThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 [. c# T4 v8 I4 S" @+ D/ V
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
# P9 X# b2 ?2 Z, ^* q! }3 cof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: ?! C6 O3 R8 p% w* D& V9 q0 D
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
8 {/ J( f; X: N. Rseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the& {/ t, S% v7 r* T$ i
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
# j9 z# `% w* K0 i! hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- B+ F0 r% ?, y) H6 R6 p
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
& U$ @3 s) A; L0 d0 z; Atrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch @7 g5 |8 g* E6 f
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* i ?9 O: [$ O6 f: Lpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: J) \2 g j" y f0 c- y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 M2 |* I, C: Z7 o7 jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
( @* U, l* p( [3 |6 Xare spaces.- Q% B( m/ O# B8 ?' z
5 H/ o6 Y1 n* `4 j: u2 EThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
* H3 C( `1 d" J/ `9 {$ Q {! eto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 _( J- p% E6 H: \1 t5 Fown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 @6 q0 U& J9 S! u40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different, B' \7 ~: h# O- ?# p* ]
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
3 {. n5 ^ Y( C( W, Q1 W) ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few4 `/ X) ` o1 y$ M3 m
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 j* e% {0 {7 M4 p1 A- p$ _4 T
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it! ~2 X0 k$ P- O# ^
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
! K% D' V$ O. b- ]% _- Z9 F We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
