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) U! l" _& B! z3 T }
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
; }3 I' ~+ G, mon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 k7 j# q) I4 q6 `1 C( t"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
, p6 ?' i" X- ?! r# hanswers to our pointed questions.# W# T- F( r9 T& e! y7 F9 n
+ m3 A* D# W8 e) K( |The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& G" ^$ v& Y; U, b$ P$ n
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
. q$ `& _$ @) k, j& w& l: }* h8 Mout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
# r: w3 t7 C+ c; _0 xfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams# g( O+ E" k! u. M" G' ]5 R
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 b3 [- {7 p, D
medical schools.: n; R) @" y' X( S/ s0 b2 O
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
/ ]& `2 v- w) ` p. kgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants7 p& R5 r: N( M( ?7 n. M7 G
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
, f6 H9 Y9 m' ^4 A( `/ N' X9 Cassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba; m. T. {8 K4 L. q* @6 D
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# Q0 }1 k7 d$ d# k2 Q) h
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There3 T6 @ K3 ?3 i* h* K; L6 o
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 e9 c8 S: D: H# D& ^mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
h8 E3 D2 S0 [! r, ashortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 Y4 a3 R" q2 O4 F0 M+ s
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.7 Z& n: P2 R% |5 |% i% [/ L
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no7 W7 k7 z* g/ f
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and a4 x# P( t2 {" L
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, b, e0 L. f; i) t9 uhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
( f+ }4 q1 q! b, W$ Z: |thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% a' R) z- D) w2 n! M" G7 Asitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 g" W4 o+ K* b; P4 Z0 Z
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.7 m/ N9 T# T. n* |
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
, s, u! B+ j' Q6 _. ga lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only4 b% h# W2 Z. v4 D' R0 g+ P; |
charge the fee defined by the state.
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8 |1 g- D) P3 T# q" MThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
( {& Z, V ? L* D0 B# xon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type( o( ]. } @% G4 L7 t5 t
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
3 r5 u% k( W* @7 F8 J* C9 A; Vtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
5 r0 v/ e1 t. L( ]% Q) ?3 \seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the% W/ C6 x! K5 }* C1 I
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
- x7 n! ^* g/ z+ {schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
2 [1 J6 R' ? _5 ?$ i4 Vyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
! h' G- Z) [0 d5 g7 L% Ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
6 ~) _; ]1 }* x% g8 x0 X9 Ohiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 @6 Y4 r- B$ c8 d! e. H
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 u H7 _: a% R2 a5 l( `6 o
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" z9 B" B! G5 D# K; m% ^
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
* y5 y3 u: f& @% A& o% V* dare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" b% L( q$ _. r; W# S
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
+ r2 U( d8 T+ }% a' Vown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
/ g& O) J T n1 \3 y" I40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
# }+ C/ o X6 _& y8 h1 Nparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
7 L' g5 w- b* G3 W% [% A* {best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
& v- u" i' j: Ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ v- y; I: D/ W0 u( ^) T9 o3 X
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it! [* }- B+ g) t' k
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 [" k7 j$ V$ N- q/ p4 B6 l
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
