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
2 C0 q" P1 ?$ v# I6 P {; K kstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) T5 X/ P/ d/ X/ \
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
1 \8 F8 m/ o, O9 i$ {6 d$ Y"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 u4 H1 P; b9 |3 O4 K1 b9 H
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,! j ^& |2 s. D! v5 e
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* l) q- E( U8 s; B
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is( [5 [1 I+ @% h- l& m
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' B& W/ s8 X, y7 ^% V7 I* d( Z
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" U( x- i' O ~: u" j& j
medical schools.
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( [0 a" n" p2 TEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
7 _" w4 O2 S! ^6 d' Sgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
: Y: m, _+ M7 d2 f/ Y' Ito go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) }" j# h) v" W) u8 R5 kassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba# s8 a% [/ B; u `: P
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# ~& t! P& o+ Y6 S% b3 I3 C
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
/ Q& K/ F9 F2 V. g( D: ]" lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
' T& Q- F2 {* y, ~+ @1 n+ Y. d1 hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
3 F3 k; d$ L) Oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) E' n- e c) l7 U# M; j! Msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) s0 G' p5 N1 j3 N* F2 ^6 t1 R3 y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
. `6 \1 j* z' lsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
9 G) ]* Q7 E$ i. n% P% W+ whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
7 D" c6 D% K/ `6 v4 U5 Z2 @( }! [thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
0 m/ G$ F) F9 \! e+ [( Ositting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 d. C5 f; Y: d3 p5 `
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
: v* x0 L2 m; Q5 N6 F4 QDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When) a. f5 P B% S4 F# _, J
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only9 j2 H( Q! B i4 e
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 t7 E# b6 @- A0 a0 o" |1 [) d
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
' q, l1 H) Z. ~. m6 |% Kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. T* o2 @( d9 ?6 u& E E8 utruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
; ^/ P \4 Q" O+ Y2 l# rseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the, e! F u! }2 s/ H) I* h( J
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
) Y; Z# u+ b1 {* E1 k7 o6 E) u; @schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if6 l6 W! P) E8 r' c* m8 d
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) |' ]6 O1 U& A/ g
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, F y. t# W0 K$ A
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that6 q! U7 y2 s7 {* c0 m6 b" Z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
4 o1 c, ]: r* {to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
: W$ F( o' X/ E; r* Zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
5 d% v, f! d0 b0 P7 \ q5 Gare spaces.4 a" t( ]/ ~6 s
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
2 p- S4 R- `& z( L3 o, f" D9 |! T+ `to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& n7 G1 {, I7 k9 ?6 w0 w3 ~' R
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
; D$ O! T; D7 J/ `! k40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
3 V- S8 k0 c9 I( ^* @6 zparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
G* j8 B( [! R+ J$ o! N$ R+ {best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few: @0 _/ |, o5 x$ F
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 X G5 a' U" H( R6 S+ Z
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& g& W* L& F: ~6 i' ~& I3 i/ nis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
: c$ \' @, d+ [( O% t* N We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
