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
' q; P% C, V/ S+ e: P, }standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, p+ | U& y1 K+ N& w% oon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 J, w% ~0 h' R Y. w
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 r) N7 \- \, {: i% U
answers to our pointed questions.8 n) ]4 V9 o- z W& U
( ^+ I4 g% }* @7 iThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,5 y" w1 ?6 g9 T5 R% `3 D
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
7 b. }0 l5 [9 e# _out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is; j& O" p/ z- W. d
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ X- C* h: P$ h5 Gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: \/ D9 Q$ o5 c( i# }7 Q% `/ e
medical schools.
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' u, |1 J% M v b0 ~1 S1 s2 SEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( q- f! R- ?- S+ n
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
8 H. j$ l/ R' M. B$ D' r# {to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 k$ ^( |- p" v. }
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% c2 r, o% b; s$ @; _' sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to4 T# Q: E! L: t& q: Z1 k
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
8 L6 X; }" V- Y: d+ a4 Y" C$ [" ?seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
6 r- e9 v2 K) Z) s1 Ymostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
- V7 N+ M& Q8 @) b' x5 U6 Zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some+ ?+ F' Q5 {6 j- j: k
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.: g! n$ g- C5 m4 k" X9 N7 R3 k) k: ]1 s
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no: R# ~ d" L+ S+ t" y* i
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 I4 q; a( K9 k. w1 C; @1 i, K, Q- B
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
% x% [, x3 ], q4 b9 I+ Vhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
) l9 w/ @/ y: @9 k& gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ m% }0 P0 E# d& I) m! qsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
+ _/ W# x+ z% udivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% v( r4 `' H# a" n
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
3 Z% S2 T7 h- i3 ` Ra lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
1 s1 G3 R" _8 T( I" m$ ]charge the fee defined by the state./ n# s. x+ l1 A( { y
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 U2 i- X0 K& U0 E( n4 `; i
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type( d# [: C9 N) Q0 b J) n; ?0 W( u
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- {; X8 L/ @% P
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
5 o0 u" B4 }" b |8 W& a7 `seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the) o8 S! Y I% q3 w, v8 V: ]
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: N, A. c* U0 f4 {# `* Qschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' P3 l! \* J; ?you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
3 t# ]2 W( S1 m5 P! \, I. ^trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 r0 q* i" V6 S+ t+ y& dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that+ |: w' u. Z1 i6 u8 ~
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want$ ]" n$ J. S4 I2 x. L$ @! h
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
0 V8 Z6 Z5 W. ibuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
9 a. n# b+ Y6 A3 Gare spaces.3 S( b" o& F! |. G) Z5 Z
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 R* C T* S' k5 X" n
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' H7 Q& H3 D* c/ Town a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the0 T5 m& h) c2 b' n" Z, d
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 n4 ]" R5 S! M/ z* K( p% X4 b, u
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the- B" n0 F# m0 g$ A7 u
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" q# `+ k, r. Y- p3 Ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" l a' p/ F( s3 q& K0 A6 e& j
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ]$ U& H) Y& E
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
( t; Y/ w% Z- k Q6 t: g We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
