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: i @ g1 ^2 B9 {9 M
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
# T& S/ f9 `* A, I% Ion a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
9 W9 S* C, _. `" C$ }"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) i+ i, r! E' b# N* ]% x( Q
answers to our pointed questions." @9 U/ z8 R5 e ]6 m. K4 W, y; q- t
! }6 B+ n6 r3 b( p1 zThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 @. v4 [1 u+ ~2 q45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
# w( F0 [/ P" Q" [' b7 Qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
& k, g- Q9 N5 j0 H3 K0 Bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
' H2 Q7 K. J4 M) d4 \to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
( C9 g: D6 @+ m# A' Hmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( p D* A1 D( E
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants" w4 o* e- Q( h
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
8 {- T4 _- D+ A% J( v, E% `: _assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- @5 @# Z6 w" A* s; Sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
{5 R5 z: D3 K! P2 ]& Yover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, M% @0 H, `8 ]) @3 a- W5 e
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' ]; w8 W) U4 `" n" I
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk2 |% F5 W3 F: P c
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some( K! a- v" ]5 C
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no- k# ^# z, a$ L9 c) }6 n- M4 B7 s
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and2 w5 v' V! a) f( h2 C$ O
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
- c. x# ?! o- k L6 ~have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good. E% g H. L6 a7 b |1 P! T/ ?
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby3 K1 X) A; z9 U, u
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 ~3 |& Z1 D- x9 i K$ o
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ X7 r3 O( w6 S2 H! L5 P2 ~Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! }$ C% j' f8 ~a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
( m) N9 j' W L, E$ A* x( {charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get3 I9 Q- k$ ?0 H5 g
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- D. q& j- X& Y/ j
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 k4 L9 _6 }! w! W* |$ f8 ftruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: m; f7 r+ D g4 N+ j5 W: ]' v. sseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the% J9 Z/ f; n+ l; d
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
& T* a$ I% Z; v* S& F: K u% ~schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
, H" z6 ?. e5 u5 tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" ?$ D, ?$ f( F) }9 G
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
2 h# I) @8 \4 M% Z* Bhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ u8 n* C: X/ j5 }5 g. A
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 P; r0 O- m- S' \# w! g% S5 Y; m: [0 z6 ~
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' Y# R! `% @* E# _, _buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ x9 G1 _& T; `. {2 G9 _5 T
are spaces.9 W& P; I1 _4 G5 i' M
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 r+ g# v9 b( Z5 Z5 \3 U
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they" {* v1 B- L9 y2 k
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" h8 C1 {4 ?8 o( v) C8 Q
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
+ y* D/ a% I$ K# p$ ~" s9 uparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 j* y9 h: c- }9 p$ p$ b. C* `best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" U' d, Z/ w1 b* J4 Xnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
& y6 Q) k+ H+ zcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
8 y$ F5 k; _7 d4 Mis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.6 Q8 c7 R8 U' T5 V0 c
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
