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 k& j; R. W9 S
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went$ [, r6 }0 P7 o7 z% B7 H
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,8 _0 L$ ?8 p- V4 U
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: u4 ~) k& E0 Y. {3 s
answers to our pointed questions.: ^7 D- c ]) {- o# [7 i
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* Y, B* x. P/ Q0 J* @ Z& u9 l
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand R- n: d( D) d- R& f/ x
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is' f7 I0 ]$ R; Q0 C8 ~
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
8 j% `7 K. l( A3 j8 lto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are6 {& c7 I" F# y; B. c) F
medical schools.
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7 E1 F9 c6 S# Z+ {; d8 pEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
3 ^$ R" `1 ~2 F% z3 b+ V* k' `, dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
& J6 o! x/ ?$ `# ]* c- k; vto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( U/ l9 u4 m3 y. w4 r
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba; S3 }( K. V( a6 c$ R4 f! i1 P
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. G& }3 j1 t9 l8 k. H
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
2 U- R# q- n7 g9 K& e5 s$ J% S- Oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and- U: ? U+ ~* v8 `
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
% ~. H$ s% A! Ishortage which the government is addressing by converting some% r2 n" F4 T$ i( k8 }4 Y! G
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no- d" a& X2 L7 L- O
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
0 c' s$ K/ [' w2 p+ k Y* asupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people3 C, ?1 \ m. q& C
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
. |( v3 U9 ~7 J0 N( f0 v! u: hthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
; ?6 M% i! J0 psitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high% s" Z9 w: s ^, a
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ I% A$ ^* R! p7 ADivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
l6 ?6 D6 ~2 Qa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) E( X+ [. y% h1 V2 i1 s
charge the fee defined by the state.2 w8 U Q+ D3 N( b( o, A
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get2 d7 m3 R$ x( ^& v
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
& q2 T K; x7 }7 ?" }( Z6 ~of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ y1 V2 f: E+ l% H; b" e! |truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
* G& W7 O2 o3 {; [6 f+ Y7 Hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
7 @6 P+ z/ n! K$ w0 d9 Iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
/ x! O: ~6 T- D7 q' Lschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! U3 {0 K% s9 n L4 u% {
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people; j- T0 i& w, e' X' E7 k5 z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
, H# M! K" O; N/ C! Whiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# M$ h. z; {% K- s- C/ J5 K
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
* T. O4 ^0 N o9 @; {9 Fto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or1 `+ @; m% ?, M% P1 i# c
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! {0 W& v s( j" T
are spaces.% x# K: i1 w) p$ f6 `
' n; \% x; @2 b* | @- EThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 m7 C. Z* H% B ]to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
[+ C/ Z9 W+ G7 L8 Q; wown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
. j" Y/ Q7 L/ L$ t& K' m! E40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& Z0 _* ^! I1 k( s3 l* u% O+ ?
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 j9 |+ M5 e t6 t4 v9 @) a8 U
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few9 a! i8 | R l2 G- r8 g
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 x# U- L$ d5 p5 I- r
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
$ }% K# j! p9 lis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 o9 N2 h8 @! x3 c2 N/ u2 | We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
