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) M0 ] G4 ` ?6 {
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
0 x: w, C" m( V/ s, {on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,9 Y/ M! r9 V( Z/ ]- O
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
- _( O4 W2 u% ~1 Kanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,! q9 W% \7 f- T/ i u
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand- ?' t! m4 q; M/ h: w" x) E
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
4 W9 X; q' T3 x; g) f( G8 bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams! h8 }% A3 ]# K( G2 o
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are8 ?3 `# R% g# u! t E
medical schools.
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: u% K/ ?" `8 {5 o8 ]8 U* B& @Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
+ v: ^2 s- l# X h2 Xgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants: v: Q6 c$ L# |+ g6 W
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 h, C* H8 i% i7 d" F0 S. A
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba. s2 h* `" r( Z! V f
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% W+ G, a: b' S8 g9 N
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' O9 U9 \1 n- z$ P4 R
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and0 v2 J& N1 S9 L+ U
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
$ y# P! j3 v) a$ Wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some: b( h# Y: V- G# n* I2 Z5 c
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. p' f! @7 ~9 O8 e2 k8 n1 R
- |- }: W9 d$ }The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no. G" P2 Y9 G- i$ D$ ^" ^9 X, x8 ~
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* I( C9 @' |' esupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
* a& v, j+ D$ {% R, j8 Mhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good6 O& x& G9 {' E$ ?* B' Q. s' V* Z
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
- H" E: Y) u3 _* s, C( psitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high/ y6 b5 _' d6 r$ a9 b2 G3 e. q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
7 c. M. L! c- H; r% u& F% gDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
- u: i8 l/ A0 ]/ l" ga lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only6 m( {! M- b5 N
charge the fee defined by the state.
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( R4 p& ~, z- ]8 r$ k) y* W* y! vThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
6 @( S2 E0 {; s; @8 k: non), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& {+ p" H$ ?2 Q2 T! U9 D7 k1 U
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
2 t" J0 Z8 E4 Ctruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel* H# O8 ~0 Q* J! t* Q
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" }+ {" _8 f0 R3 p+ x4 w$ e9 m
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on) \5 r- g$ Z. q. J
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
" `' `$ {( @* Q6 u3 ?5 hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 V' D4 u* [( Z `" }* Ktrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ X# F! ~, O* B8 y6 Q2 O
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
- Y. l% u2 K- D; ^% npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
`2 D0 x9 x5 N; t- wto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 X' d& ~+ S2 h; j& `% v8 w
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
! E- G2 w: b; s6 {* Y. Aare spaces.! @& B: Z0 S g2 m7 m
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi8 j8 [0 K+ I7 D4 i( P k
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ @& U1 ?! P _# P( p3 ^, _own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the( t4 K3 f4 c7 M, `
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
0 s7 a/ C, e6 N* ]parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
7 G. w* @4 W- K! o5 r+ r# _( G+ Lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% u; Q& G. q1 j
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
! T, ]3 c3 J5 q& j2 Bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it) V9 i, ]! s! M1 {
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.0 Z" b" M! S3 I5 r( T& Q
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
