我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living4 j! ?6 [" D0 b% w) [) D
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went1 o1 g3 `2 i) d+ c
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
: H, S) w: o$ l% `; O# @- ?"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* r) D5 f* [9 G8 i3 q
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
7 t* _9 V- ]1 P) f* ]; ^$ P45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand' r% D: u3 D% j: k
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is7 M+ c$ q/ u1 U8 n, v+ R; I
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams- J7 H( N! Q/ m
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are P4 ]* a) a7 J4 k& _
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
5 D; q/ j# k8 t% z* }government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
" g9 `9 i3 w% F4 A4 oto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
" g, T+ f' L- z' I% W. Zassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- {; C& X8 l$ ^
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
! ~5 u) m% D2 |9 ?! I' |" lover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
T; b1 H& Q% N( O4 U6 \0 Oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
% ]& n$ O* ?, u+ J7 fmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* x! P5 a$ W5 l" h' Xshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
2 Y# e0 l# H. m: m ^9 Ksugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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+ L# j b/ f* yThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* |: X1 L0 ]- q0 [% l& s
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and; i3 n0 x( n$ {8 T' e# }, `
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
+ M; |) s9 s2 Ihave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
0 [- W4 L" r! X$ ^+ Uthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby0 E* r3 b) ^ i' l# i# l
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) [; c q. x: S* G& B# c
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
: ]6 p$ X; c0 ^$ v8 D) u$ D* HDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" Z/ F" S3 G! D9 h. d, v. b8 k
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
. O# T5 e) Z4 A0 Pcharge the fee defined by the state.1 @! L- b$ G' K
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
4 K% R" z; [# q8 Gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
6 c! i( u% f% O0 D" A- uof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 C" \# x% |- H9 q, Mtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
& d0 R& I- }$ L# x% \7 D% hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
; |9 \/ b+ ?6 H0 ?" D7 _1 Sworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on+ j7 \& O: c" {7 h
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% Y5 ?9 I( J$ T( i0 C* ^# k9 | Dyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people+ m0 k4 z+ n$ j, Z0 u5 U
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& K) g9 s9 t# N O8 Ihiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) O" n) y, ^* d5 n: E9 q; `
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want/ h A x @7 c0 X
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
e. j: u6 d% e1 P; s# [9 f- tbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there9 O! p( N1 }1 `: k: K
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi' e, n* W7 a9 k1 n. F0 s
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# z1 R6 z+ C% M! w! Y% `' bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
8 w& k7 s: _0 \4 r, S/ U3 t40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
& @; l. Z9 @2 r, c- ?7 B8 h" L# `parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the/ |' G+ A. Y/ _! R3 l: M
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
. \6 T! V, B9 @4 Knice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 X4 A# @3 v! v: Y* i3 I
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
3 m: i3 ~; f7 ~1 r6 [is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 I9 W) c4 M; Z/ s* P
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
