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: p8 K8 | P/ m3 h! n
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% g% y0 s. w3 e- a6 j3 j `) |
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 H, M$ n4 q0 [6 S1 q+ P
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 Z4 y" {, Q0 t4 V: d Y' I8 @- o3 T; W
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
* {3 Z. y8 z `; F45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
+ t" G* x! ]% P E) Sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
+ i- h5 B, M- C, S4 z4 Tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
# n0 t O: |/ Q5 @; Fto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
/ ]6 i$ ?5 R" e4 wmedical schools.% q* k, g7 e$ m3 Q0 ]. {* c' r# a
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the G/ G. O8 D) a ]% t# a: i
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants+ z6 `& B! O3 l9 \" |2 P: z/ w
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years" i# M* ^5 d& v e U
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
) M: j r- [9 I! Ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
0 T" W, C0 o* ^1 G& u+ j) tover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! v L M& s, O7 [5 Tseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 }2 q f; k6 F# H+ P9 u* l
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
/ a9 g+ r+ L6 f# ishortage which the government is addressing by converting some! Z# M! p' Q+ D
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.. b0 {* Y5 c' S5 ]+ E2 k9 _: R
$ q6 p( F& k4 |! w) o3 ~The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ j) i# `4 d: @
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
# k) I/ d8 x* bsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people- O+ P1 F+ O1 Y
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% W% Q, U5 N5 Hthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby8 e/ s5 V2 Z4 [/ w! }! Q
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. D9 j' g7 T B$ |; }
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
9 s5 R0 }( D) b/ QDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
. @6 D2 b5 V8 @; ]4 Xa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
2 q4 [: o2 t# K% p7 m) g- \) b* f! jcharge the fee defined by the state.4 Z6 [; m( _ ], c N* J
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get6 Q: H! }0 E% q5 z- _$ k5 b4 l
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type2 w# D7 `, I" E/ Z: Y8 p( E
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big1 G2 `+ U' X9 W1 k9 z" F
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel; _5 m3 U) d6 n- Q+ `) Z. V
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ]2 K7 g8 l: |/ E
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on7 W, R7 j F8 o/ G8 x
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- p$ M; W! k% e
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 n- l' M3 |. M4 D( I- Ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch: K. q# B" t: _/ ?/ o! C
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 | S3 k& T' r5 R8 W8 Jpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! P' X3 l0 A- oto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& S5 c I, |# G/ V) _1 r& p) `buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there3 B5 X7 ]5 Y& d% Y. e4 V1 `
are spaces.
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+ d+ R8 C: y. G% y; ~3 sThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi) |( G4 F7 w8 C. {' L
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# j. q+ C( T) o" Z3 {
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
2 F0 o5 E: z- H$ s o* [# p6 P3 E40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different) z ^- N2 O- }) }- N* v7 R
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the+ G7 ] E, d# d+ A! u- C1 a( g
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
, s0 K4 n: C! inice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 J5 A8 I( V: E; `( ]7 K
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
( w8 r" `) o0 t: Z$ I4 f, ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 z* f! T/ f- V# C9 J$ D: ?- q We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
