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+ L* P) t8 @& _
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 ^- o) c' o" U; n2 E0 Yon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,7 e, I8 g, x' q W8 r! ~
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give( S! I3 d* l/ O/ T* f: `" s% |/ x
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) D" o4 { w: w5 V' E
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
` A7 Q1 t- {% J( |0 w8 {out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
5 x$ _/ r9 J9 b* lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams V( a( ~3 \/ i, ]
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
^; z0 {- b& U* Y6 v4 M, t8 O! Ymedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
7 y5 z8 P8 Y [: u+ @" v4 kgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
/ b+ y( R6 B! i- b2 s- _& xto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
: n* d% F# V6 H4 ~1 G0 Q6 \assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba/ ]' h: {8 \' v
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to( o7 R9 Q. ]4 M
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
5 |6 y3 g. o, C5 ^8 Dseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and8 E. R; s4 j+ N5 u4 {
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- K- P, U" L+ a1 g# v
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
8 t. {+ j5 K: ^sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 A5 a5 e* C$ e' e+ r
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. p2 g" ~3 u: K( k4 p
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people- T7 _% g J/ ^1 C: F
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
# J$ \2 N6 Q: Y5 T$ y7 Z) ^thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby) y) M4 F1 L. I: B5 W$ u$ e' ?
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
7 Z# E1 j3 `( \/ J$ V. kdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years." }5 I2 x, T9 l
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
% `: C) C+ d; D8 j2 ~a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only' U Y. K. V$ Q, \/ \! V
charge the fee defined by the state.
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& i* R& ?. [! ]" f; S' O* P5 }5 eThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
- G1 l7 Y0 ~+ k( @on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
& j! {6 _1 M% F1 c2 ~of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 i/ n0 l) T# P$ F* R2 N
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel; K' P+ S8 n" I0 O1 F, }# [
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
( j- N7 I/ x( Z* Lworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
8 y) P1 e& Q! Q, \1 A/ fschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% T3 U, G' L$ I" qyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ I4 Q1 J4 r) }0 V* ytrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% N& F0 m; W, N- ]( t! }- u8 dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that( \8 f& D, l* O5 T& `( b
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) Z- n+ Y, f- h# V! `to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
A W4 `+ k* w' c, Q7 R `7 o( bbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
& ]/ |$ G( j8 tare spaces.
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% _: q5 F. o* n6 r* s4 D1 \There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
) [$ \8 l1 C# g3 E& Z. |2 z1 eto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# h- e! D1 M1 S H6 ^( town a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 W8 ~4 P" q. Y/ k* t. C40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 L* ~9 C* f; R. K! W5 @
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 a; U$ @: t/ T& e! w
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ w+ c- L- [7 i8 `
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
* C4 t2 v6 D/ ^$ {2 e4 {8 Vcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
7 X) d+ _' ]5 eis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 c( ^, t* B4 M( Y' C" l6 k We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
