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" U9 M) c* M' Dstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
6 b$ u5 A `9 ?8 O% Lon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,. W5 w+ B% I+ e' I( e
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 z6 ?" K- o, Y, `" N
answers to our pointed questions.& R. H! y5 Q h1 Q
. m+ u k |1 r. {6 QThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,7 E. ^; e; r& i/ M4 A
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; Z% o4 S: {6 n, v0 M4 s' U/ Q
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is) L X( p, `7 \* b4 x9 C
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
z+ l& R. [0 R+ |8 @, _. P2 {to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& g% E5 D( Y& x- F' W# fmedical schools.
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) B8 t, K; A" O9 M, P0 T6 G$ H4 GEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 Q8 A' p. Q" {4 G$ D$ B
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ n! r2 H6 z/ ~4 P' fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% c3 W. V4 K% t& P. }; X
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& v+ K9 \- w. b+ ois from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 u4 l5 `1 X/ Z) Aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
+ f! \9 B1 D; y Wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
' W4 M% k- h! {4 q1 D. H Rmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 H' r: N4 S6 l2 i" V+ \. ]6 V- d
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
$ |2 ^. |0 _7 o7 P* f. nsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, Z2 X2 p, }6 D9 ?
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
. v l4 U( X' ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( t5 B- L7 R, ^) d8 O. _* xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good l- U1 g% v. t9 |
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby" j! I1 t- \5 W" b5 u2 y
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: c- t/ F& [" K+ W; g
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.2 `: q- q% o0 I, T. a7 Z; G
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
& L5 H9 S2 e" I$ G% U; ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only' y2 u. F& s3 o; ~. {3 Z! \# N. ?6 V
charge the fee defined by the state.: G+ V! L) p* J8 @( ^% t8 n/ W3 m$ a
: [# f$ k3 O: c' y1 G6 `
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" P2 \' m/ i+ ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! J; P+ L) X+ a! M
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: _# h; D0 }7 i8 ]+ }7 `
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: L4 B6 G, b4 x1 r1 k! U
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* V# T" v$ y) Fworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on% W6 ]7 L1 G: T
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if# L4 E. W2 l A0 E; R* ^8 B ?
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* C7 I7 r0 |# y i2 D1 B+ }/ jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch5 L# p: d2 G/ }9 ^/ F
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that" s( j9 u4 M, u3 C9 W+ s4 C1 p: x `
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 g2 } m8 s# ^, m
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
( S7 e. H5 [) W" |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% g; k" B# B/ J* y0 V0 Z( u9 s/ B
are spaces.5 C2 b+ |3 j' b! ~: e* ^2 k
4 Y8 Z0 u, _. g6 B$ \7 }There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
2 y' ]9 y6 P" r3 k8 c% k7 W6 ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they f, S7 G c R4 [) `5 W
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the x! U% C6 ^. K6 l
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 g9 G/ M' f: b
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! N: j! m3 A/ T/ }! }; F
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) W- Q5 o# W- p. F1 i9 h
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of# q! D0 }' |: N" O+ Z- H& s
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
% J' Q5 f$ L7 w2 C6 f) Z5 {is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! Q+ s8 _* ^3 D/ S& k
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
