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
( I! @1 y8 F& k" W6 l! ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
; r( f$ N; T5 e! p5 K6 R7 l2 ]" ron a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 O0 T/ v! w/ e0 M$ Q6 F6 r; T"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% _2 U, A5 V/ Y+ J9 d% O- Z n- ?
answers to our pointed questions.) [' K- {& i" q" j( T+ n, V8 l
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,4 r$ f: u" p) L) G5 U
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! r- T; p; J' p+ A0 e7 {8 D8 V1 E2 {3 Q& @
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is: r+ b5 b. K# A* A
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% a' p0 k0 s7 d1 R: l
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
6 k/ i$ x2 s: g7 g! b& Umedical schools.* M$ }2 W( k( R2 w
3 \; |% x' S0 mEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
( Q7 }, |& G) s& C. I$ Ygovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 |# S2 ^% h3 J. O7 ^+ v
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years" `' a% r, }8 Z6 B
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! v* m! m( e) f/ ]% Mis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 `" A( d0 q' ?( `2 A/ L% Z/ z9 M* Dover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There- `( Q; a1 L3 r: E) n1 l L6 U
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 z0 Y6 R4 t+ C+ H3 x& b! d
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
( m4 _: g8 ~# w, H, ~shortage which the government is addressing by converting some- }- l. l, t8 K
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# {$ z! S! m7 I% ?. s. k) P) @
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 Z3 q# `* j+ I
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and4 F/ ?$ U! Y) b1 N1 ^& \
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people8 T7 X, C C* y1 J
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
& c x4 p. C0 x* i! Lthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
) }% J8 t1 X" j2 usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high' C" q# Y' W- f% y/ `
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
! O. k: F+ f' n7 mDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
( s# X) Z$ A" n& X6 k- y c8 O1 J: Ya lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 V0 _1 R! d U m8 R. D6 H
charge the fee defined by the state.$ [! \' H/ l5 n+ a# q4 D: X& V
9 z! ~" c: N/ y' P% x) W1 kThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
9 M( [+ Y; G% y) z+ L4 ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! e c# G' _2 ~0 d: K2 L5 c) \
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
4 ^0 J3 f* Y6 E8 [truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel; v. L7 t0 y+ Q R( d" Q+ s
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
# Q, g+ }, K% ]1 n% @/ f+ F( Xworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on4 g. q' A, S$ E6 ~1 |' Q9 P
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if) Q# e1 G/ A9 v7 Y1 W! A
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* a( V4 n2 o5 u2 C
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& u" ~+ q8 y- z4 u* ]$ B9 S) }$ ?hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 }( W: m4 E" x& p! _# z. v+ z; q
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' X' W. G! n4 N; r5 `* F7 x0 `$ t
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or. ?! ]6 U9 O8 }7 w# P0 Y
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
' `- `( d/ P9 c' u9 l2 P4 u# T) [2 Gare spaces.7 T. @* C" k- d8 u2 s+ a
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
# y; O5 \! F' L- E( t0 F8 o# gto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they4 K; y8 \4 Q: Q; B+ p, p# t1 P
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the( M4 v& `4 C2 h7 j Q6 N) O4 W4 C5 n# c
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 r0 `7 }8 G, V6 H+ a. h+ I
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: r+ k+ [" W. w) t' m
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& I% C' b, @9 Y- ^# v* N7 k
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
0 H1 o$ a" [9 Ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
2 h b6 ^5 c8 {7 s, o+ fis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- j( Q7 p) o# Z8 \9 x$ K
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
