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
- |: Y& f8 N2 S0 t) O3 Dstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went& |: }- }: R- W9 g2 L
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,1 @# b. `. X8 N) f! V3 Q; f( s, Y' O
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give- B: f+ ^( a8 n- H9 J" l
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
, K, [! P6 s- t- @! D$ W- M. O1 F45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; j0 v) {0 r/ g. q# A7 j# c+ n
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is. y. R6 s* U- j
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" a3 c! V+ m' N5 R
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" J: m* w1 f" O. kmedical schools., I8 s9 S/ \ |5 x: k$ b2 ~$ E
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
9 G+ Q L o; `) R. }government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 O& ^; v% b" O
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
# V9 K& i/ n' O& P$ U; G' vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
' l; t' d6 F5 X# ] X' Mis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
( {) n. P6 ^- i7 M5 mover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! \" T5 ]9 g Z6 q* l9 B& s. l7 Fseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 q! w8 ^& L1 Z
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) g% n5 d, `9 O* k. T9 J" v
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some0 a* }% h4 g' y. p
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands." g% E) Y- n) G- U' |9 s
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
# r3 K# T+ H2 }7 a/ [private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
8 G0 s" q) ]4 _( F/ ~. y ?' Usupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 R; L: k4 P) M4 ?2 F& M
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
) @: R! E! |) Q D0 a) a9 mthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
9 } R& P8 m. O! T4 gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high8 D+ S, [* n9 H& b! S
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
9 N$ ]* H! @* J$ m% y7 P7 ?+ \9 FDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 K" j5 x1 p# P! v( Ra lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only' ^- B m& }% M# }
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
6 r; y( {6 j; h) `on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
' o6 t( b; v( Q6 b3 Y9 I* X; sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big' K9 S- i' x2 z1 F( @+ y
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel5 L) M T* V+ i" i: V! _
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the1 z4 s* ^( R& u8 i
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
7 D# a7 e! _. @' h2 S( Fschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if( `/ ?4 R# k! |; Y$ @9 x- e" o, w
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people: ~4 P- ^( b' N+ o5 t" F4 K
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' L) `. l, j% Y, V
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# a+ i- f! c/ l1 E9 R$ t
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 l2 s" ^: J5 g7 G7 |
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or |1 u, {5 v8 A: j+ o
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
9 B( ~0 A( o: R% r+ care spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
{6 c0 R$ N, H& T' ?8 F" cto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they. S' k* H% |) j) k* _' v" A
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the- o; z2 G* P6 x. t% ~2 ?6 [2 |- ^
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
7 E$ ]) d: c% j% `parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
: T% O7 ]* U1 q: nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; @) C) v4 g$ o+ ?, [
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 R' }+ X' d* q* j, r
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( Y; p; G' y8 f
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
$ _2 g( }# z5 [& K' h We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
