我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living0 ~" e! z: P9 h" K1 J |1 C/ x
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went9 A* L5 ?9 S0 n+ V! D8 y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,* W0 c( U( C' j' R, r5 Z* Z' w$ g
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
0 [& ?7 H% \7 x- d& zanswers to our pointed questions.0 j- r5 U0 E9 J) h
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
5 B+ C6 m( k" P9 q! l+ l45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# [4 ]# p+ B" s/ R
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
' j B K, w& |free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams- j8 L6 f6 Z& ?' E D* N& ]0 \4 n
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
' @+ G& c+ b% Q( a: L6 emedical schools.& m i2 y2 v; k
2 n& C+ y2 t" G/ Y7 K1 Z2 s/ l# N5 I" TEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
0 H* ?2 J- c+ C; agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 j4 L* o4 V( X( l
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years! k8 r+ h4 T3 c1 l0 x! ?8 f" K
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! K+ E, R( q: w" Fis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; C: e7 ~( H4 s5 U: A" Z
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* ^9 X9 J$ H6 T# gseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and/ R' o* X0 l. m
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
. v: B7 Z3 d' n$ sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ h( d- O- _8 M; O" B0 Hsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.- e4 V7 w( t( |( l, x# Y% M: S2 c" X
! x5 B. G# W1 D0 a) E6 KThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no3 s) x6 d1 j/ F* w% U2 q' @& ~
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
1 X7 F7 _' i$ A7 L0 Ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
T4 i8 X4 {, ~8 Nhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) }+ F6 b6 K6 u+ z8 l
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
) M. j& o$ H" [; Q: b5 r" ysitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
9 N# q5 O8 ^1 @( x+ V( Jdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
0 W- V! k. s% H" v' ?/ ZDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 W7 C6 f' e- C7 H# D U, Ya lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ i( M5 q" B T' `0 O1 P. b# Kcharge the fee defined by the state.
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- |/ ?/ h/ V! MThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ L! w' E s! b6 F# O+ v
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- l2 [, _6 e4 u5 e
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big( Z/ z! [5 A7 Z/ C4 B
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
1 W/ x4 R: _0 y' n, Y$ b' _seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; Y9 d0 R4 l! L% B% F% j( g
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on- m8 g. U# G6 n* h
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if" i" L% K0 `" J. ]/ |8 [- l9 F5 o
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
8 R: a3 a# x8 @! U$ G7 X: itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch+ X8 V6 S3 L4 R
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* R. G2 T1 e* K( i, Y/ y" ]people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 Q3 r/ G8 ^9 ^# a4 @! P3 [# P2 c4 H
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or1 V1 P' w( n: m
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 Z0 @ e6 L! R6 J
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 f% t- L: v0 G; T: p) I
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
/ L3 z8 W9 p( X% M- {3 Pown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
" W/ i# r( V7 ~. s. D1 ]/ f) n40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different- P( z' @5 H* \$ ]' I
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the; `: s/ V* l& W
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few8 s- S% D- T' I
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
a" T, o# O- Q" I& Jcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it) t; h: }& P6 a% U7 |' j
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
, |- Q8 F a( r- n) v5 Y. S9 v/ M We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
