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
/ r% k" ?* B( t; h5 Pstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went* L& \+ [" _* @# n1 I- Q" C
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,# b8 u" H. g' A3 {1 q; J
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
9 f2 Z3 [. }. Z- y1 g6 yanswers to our pointed questions.
: i0 V9 N h# N `1 B; M
9 ^ N: P( j8 B+ u$ i. C; ~The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( S: g0 s3 h; }
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
9 _$ z3 B5 r9 X r1 rout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
* S+ y9 a; p. _1 t" e3 f5 O/ L3 lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams, Y, c- E A6 T: r: R' m* v( C
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
8 ~6 p" H6 C% E6 q$ C+ bmedical schools.
$ j$ z" V" i3 _( F
: f. U# B- L" y8 p' v$ {+ U( qEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 b' D3 x, N& N6 l
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants: N4 D5 b8 f" x+ u5 d
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
9 X/ w& d5 t5 ~! L" j5 i2 oassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba* `. ^3 s5 F- d/ P. o
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to$ K% N$ K" o- ]2 A% d% P9 P' M
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There2 G5 q& G: I& I: w
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
! ` a: c1 x2 x9 d/ J5 u- v% h/ bmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
" K B: [; b: ]shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
' I7 ~6 V3 c4 L( Fsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.+ ~# Q1 Y9 R4 t8 r) o" K' I
+ d4 ^* y$ w. IThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
4 w7 ?0 B+ G8 Y! u3 D2 c8 @private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 b) t, D( w" i5 d6 h" N9 J
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, J. u- K+ q( B5 N% ?have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* k3 c8 X+ U: M6 t! {% k. |0 K' a
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
; F5 k- U/ A7 z K* R) {sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high$ a) |, T4 y3 m& _8 e: C! u. n
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.! {& W5 _2 [% h( s' W w1 c
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When$ z4 [% L/ l9 E% L1 j. i
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) ~& S/ v e, M( Y- ~+ l$ ~ o7 {. l
charge the fee defined by the state.: K* d4 ^4 I2 j# }. ?
3 v% P5 w1 L+ W0 u' ^$ W5 m/ i; O& v
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
2 Q2 L: f. ?+ v* Qon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type8 Z+ q) `! _+ B: V3 b$ o
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big b$ B1 l6 `& E' e
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel3 T: M' z% P! l
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the5 ^! [7 m; N# T$ F
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
L; P* u B9 Pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: k+ S \! u7 K# Q" {you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
- b& J* B2 v1 C- \" F7 m6 Q$ @trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch2 ?: G4 |, z& |1 {2 Q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; _/ q2 k- M, V w7 p% y
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 y+ M6 a2 F* Q8 f- D* p( M$ [
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
$ }, p, |9 r8 Vbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, A* Z; ^" G, \* {2 _( p9 e2 p
are spaces.
! e* O. D* [) x& d# V* @" ?+ n
8 W; L' F4 T* I* NThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 d# F5 n* ~& p- p; b
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they4 E) s# C. H- L# p
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
: L8 ]5 k# C( b; g2 L4 ]# Q40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ H4 i2 C! B4 W1 T5 s: R. ]
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
X( W \ v m" J7 z. Zbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few: G( y) Z# `- w- U2 J; I" i
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of( b- _0 Z# P7 a* T/ \5 U% \
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; Q8 I8 g+ l! p2 K8 O" U/ [is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.4 Y% R* d; s7 i, v: _3 A* V
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
