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! k, \$ |) ]6 W0 e
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 N! i/ p5 k1 C& }" k! Q8 i" G
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,6 {% {: y! @# T" `
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
2 n" X; j, l& f5 f( z5 hanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; |* e: p" d. z ]# N2 w
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 _; m) D' G$ [ [9 B9 S3 O
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
( w4 u- y! s9 ]5 H7 X W; ~) ^free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
! Q* u4 V9 [& c- |! q' g, {to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# W5 L; b: t* _1 b% z
medical schools.2 o, S# c* e2 q: e
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 a; ?# f. T9 I" {8 b& n
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 `, k4 [4 v. z8 M5 Q* h) K7 x
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. t! S# ]5 G+ B: y$ f
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! n x7 [/ o! w0 xis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
$ A0 r& E. W8 X, Oover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
4 `( Q' L0 l H$ U+ G8 W! cseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' y* y2 q5 g5 F4 y+ r6 d
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
3 {! ~, I& C! n. W, b) ashortage which the government is addressing by converting some3 U& x+ ~% ~' i0 ^; \( g& o
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.3 \/ d- s& G2 ~ N" P
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
9 ` ~+ x9 Y9 ^/ R: x& Tprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ J; [4 f% v8 Jsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people# h& t/ _% Q8 m$ i) d7 O
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good; j8 U& U8 G4 @8 U- z( u. D
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
" Y0 c5 T' E# u, ysitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; D7 L6 I) r+ A8 c( ]7 t7 U
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) X( e4 A& |1 W! p' L7 n( y1 \
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& g7 v" G" t0 L4 b
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
# ]$ O$ E! j% J$ _$ E' w! bcharge the fee defined by the state.
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3 Q6 @" w. S0 CThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: H9 E; h) a' B
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- S/ a; d3 U1 W) n# V
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big8 |6 z+ y3 @/ a/ Z. [! ^; F
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
( _' P! b/ M# o2 L/ k) Mseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
6 u' y) H9 Z4 @. ~5 zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on! d2 ^9 ?+ s% {! F" u( d' `
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if2 T5 m" y0 G) K+ U2 Q, z* Y+ g" h6 f
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people: ~) x: h! E/ s0 U x
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 _2 n. J R# M2 i0 Z1 W8 Ghiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that3 p5 M% B% j9 h! `4 q7 M
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want( r2 U* X. N0 Y5 l6 ^
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" A+ s1 F8 u4 ]% N) |/ e
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 P4 X% w' `. P5 F! u3 D; oare spaces.
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3 k, }; V- m4 o' ^There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
1 w. J$ K% R" h w$ \to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 ~7 ^2 \+ Y; s& w' ~
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- U0 j- t8 a9 j, @9 x40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
T/ e. _- j p+ X9 ]parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the# F0 W. k9 C4 r }5 W2 V2 h. Z
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) c. G9 l' O# U% e- L7 I5 D
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of {5 \. U3 |7 n( ?! W
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( X- Y8 s) j5 U
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.0 j6 e g" [2 b) X6 F
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
