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
% w: x; `6 j% T# ~standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
. L: E( o9 r! u. ?: S3 S+ Bon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
+ E4 ~( i; o7 w! U& z"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& z9 G+ l1 x9 m
answers to our pointed questions.
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4 _( A, e2 k( I$ `7 N7 ~. B! DThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; y2 v2 `8 T: _/ u5 }" z4 u1 [
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
: p4 g+ j f/ t' N' _out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 h: x% V( D' i! A- f; A$ R
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams) Z) Q- F; Y0 ~: X$ G
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are6 M8 V) c/ ^: ]) e0 O
medical schools.$ D6 J! M3 q8 F& w9 Y/ [
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
. j# E7 X m1 ]+ Dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ I/ K, W! r3 } q9 F- Sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years5 p$ k& W" z; q' R; h2 Q& I& c
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
: r9 `1 L+ I) w, [& Uis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) r% b6 i: u/ q& q
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
$ X Y6 g% O2 Y, Q9 b7 Lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
' o1 ~1 t% B" h! D& kmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
3 Y7 e5 g* `8 V9 k" j, X5 B7 _4 Ishortage which the government is addressing by converting some& Z& |, }2 ~ e0 U+ b1 ^+ k8 t7 f* K
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 ?8 Z8 I8 ~: g
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
2 r' S3 A( P- hsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) R6 V4 k" p. C; K
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good y$ L2 b4 B b: g3 j. z a
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
0 }6 s, {6 S6 y0 ?sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
: c7 n* O3 M# u, p: jdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
. @( }$ X- u' X6 LDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When! R; F( g) L$ T2 j
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only; Q1 M8 [! b4 E. K
charge the fee defined by the state.$ A9 M8 q+ Y0 d7 h. T% ~) ~
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ A6 d0 M+ \: D' `9 Z M3 e9 q# k# e
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
( @$ M2 t; b# t8 Iof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
4 I l+ [- h9 N' G) i/ {8 Z1 e/ Struck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ \) P: p6 ]( k; y* e0 X1 w
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the4 ]2 c$ V6 u H- n
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
4 p) S, X( G/ D' rschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
2 {. E. {; K' `$ h( S8 ]1 xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 _7 K% t" f) ?/ o6 B; Z9 _( J& Qtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
, s" Y; @/ ^' k; ^+ S. b* v' @hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; n2 {1 L3 {# K2 h4 Y+ n5 r
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want6 m6 V4 j7 |* t9 R$ i3 k A( y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
$ Y+ f6 S& [ `( Obuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 Q0 \$ {. Q6 s+ V8 k! @
are spaces.
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2 s; u5 `; Y7 U6 _5 N% lThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi8 K7 ~; _: g7 Z* [$ W$ Z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they/ y( b2 f5 ^& l6 ?0 M2 f: o
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" n0 v. `- {6 z* P
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different0 I7 x9 V9 N( Q
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
) N3 t! p- c3 [" P6 M1 fbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 o+ g5 y3 N8 Z/ j9 R$ I$ N, [$ o
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
- @) h" d& Q" ^1 k7 h* C4 hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* e/ R$ l* B" W# x8 Ais a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 i, l" N* e1 h6 y" J8 o We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
