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+ N+ \' _, \, {
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
; n4 h3 @( ?- p& J+ Jon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,( \( o) c+ r8 Q; J
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* ?+ `6 E( o! O; g7 b
answers to our pointed questions.5 B" W8 J: v! e% u" g5 R" ^2 m
! o5 R8 l4 M. ?+ U! ^, Z0 CThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& T& U+ u8 e$ T4 f) m9 u; c
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
/ H' S7 G, V3 o+ {, K+ aout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
! ^) }% v- U" o8 a) t% Vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% [; J* r" h0 G& ~8 l
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are* m3 _6 v5 i! L+ x% q: {
medical schools.) }7 g* }( \, l% K
( u, o; V: x7 {5 U% I. H4 x7 t, uEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the& U( @# J g& a! b* L0 M
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
_9 ?$ P {0 ?1 y# g2 Nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years+ J% J7 P$ T4 g& W6 A0 {8 \
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba1 a/ w0 E3 B3 l( m6 `4 W, F
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 l+ i$ G! J( `- D0 u* k
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There# {2 G: r) B3 W5 X8 ^
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
1 U# [# l. x% J% omostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
2 p4 I! {6 R8 Z% c) Dshortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 P9 W- Z% _) l0 L. b% j
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.) o( D+ y: p4 {% W C+ I {! y
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 }6 a6 I+ A8 i" E
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and$ P+ k' ?- B, s9 E+ d# X3 Z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
9 z, r, P' X8 v5 o1 `5 y- }8 \have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
3 K; T2 v0 L2 t |/ rthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 b. l1 \3 I- U1 o3 T
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high" D1 H: K o3 ?/ J: C# o- ]
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
: a( h8 P X& V U( T6 Y, aDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 r9 ^( a7 p" J
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only5 S0 r( {4 d- f! y8 a6 w6 C
charge the fee defined by the state.. E' ^4 i( s$ T8 I- S, Q) L4 A: n
1 P( h: A+ \# b* {7 v dThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get, p3 I9 F, `, q$ X* m$ C! q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
- O2 l; C! e; b/ Gof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big8 Q/ U5 C& n0 ^6 Q- o
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
9 r( ^5 _. H' n) ~3 j' {seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# m1 i2 u1 g( ~$ G5 Q! K
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 h9 `* S7 k, E) ^
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
\3 @8 Z" O; h0 y% Q) Y# [- Qyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
& {) z# W/ q& _* E9 k: t, Vtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
5 f/ }; i) b: ~9 C" d lhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 \; y) Y5 q5 x; c: L
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
. Y1 S# g0 s+ Z3 Fto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 r5 g( q4 f6 x5 @8 K
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) C2 }& ]7 Y: x( U% {6 _are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( ^" L& G5 |1 k6 t8 Q; m
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 i z0 O3 J$ \; W8 F
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
7 e# t2 L0 z8 P7 e! W! m( {40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
+ T: D6 A) h& A$ Wparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the/ S( ~3 G# }3 r8 w' a+ m: a4 W
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 ?7 ^5 m1 N4 K; {
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
2 p' T3 m O qcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
% f9 R; \& ?0 ~is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 M# D" P2 ~! P: \' M We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
