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( d2 w9 u9 J& w9 K% @
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ M' `8 v5 W$ Aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,2 j- A& B. k0 X$ P1 A6 I( q
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 z9 I0 S; M3 W0 y' p. R
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
' Q! R0 B% |; ]" ?. C' o5 h8 H45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand2 V y7 g1 v: g2 V0 j
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is* w2 M) X( E4 D, X9 N
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 K( k# A# _5 V# U5 U' kto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 z' c( H; }% ]7 R
medical schools.
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( W, G- o9 z+ L8 Y! a5 REvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
0 ~& S/ o- Z" f2 Dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- w- E% _, U, H' ]
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
h" L- L# ^# D9 H0 Z7 wassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
) p' D/ _5 i1 [+ F( s9 Ris from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to6 G$ ` R2 _- _
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There8 ^. b5 R# n n5 V; a0 R1 q4 F0 V
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and0 X2 V& f& @# z6 B4 T0 M
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 G* [3 _, G& D" j
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
1 A" q; s6 @: b5 z1 Wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.3 Q' b( B: ^3 N7 t ~) O
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
7 O. h9 i6 p- @6 xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and" w& W( [; }6 e/ O% ^& ~! U
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
% e$ l; K9 P5 h% v' `* Hhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good% Y# q6 w. y& j# u0 {
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby% q7 ]. H. p. G
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( o/ H( P* ^1 a# g
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.! V5 Q; [3 Z9 e" @1 T- D. `
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When' T/ y' E, M; ]2 q9 ]
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
# @0 @, x- D# A. ]charge the fee defined by the state.
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( N1 B! c# u3 ]There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ m1 y2 M! g$ n: X, ~7 }" T
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
; h4 \$ l3 V$ i1 N( Yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ U, ^ |: _* m% L) A1 `6 N2 C# itruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 l" y# Y1 W4 ^: X; s
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 g/ U9 z0 o% b6 K% q- B
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on( B# i$ M8 Z) e7 E" i
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! r I5 n) s* |$ y$ \
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* Y) i/ E1 V) `3 e) |
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% z+ O) f) G+ _! d" fhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; y4 \4 K0 s* @
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 V$ n& T) d4 f# B! u5 cto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 T8 g4 e0 L' D6 K' K
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there) i) o) E% [3 F4 D
are spaces.
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+ z2 d2 O a% y: mThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi* P) W; }: K. W3 O: f8 N3 m
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they% n! X! A1 y3 a5 B
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the1 ]( g. B; Y u' y* O0 t& i
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
( g w W1 d. w. W) p1 Tparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
3 {7 n; H9 J4 ^1 q. Ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' B; H5 N5 C8 y1 ^
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
; ^- u. v. L9 ?: t* acar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; k6 n2 q5 j* q3 b6 x5 l; iis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.# [" o. [0 M4 N7 ^& J5 r" c
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
