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 o n; A/ k! Z- N3 o) h2 U
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went1 X% K6 D% @# C% B# D
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
" U% f# \0 q/ D. h* Y% ^"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give7 g K3 i' _9 z; m" ?0 E
answers to our pointed questions.+ _) y- }, u/ a7 e
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* O4 p5 ~, o7 G5 l2 H
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 G, r* d& \" G7 W* ?
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is) m! p( Z# Q0 Z& V6 E3 f' e
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 R: V+ b: U. T- r" y
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
( s" F% l: N' s! y4 s$ bmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the0 h% C4 m/ E8 ?# L$ K7 V+ N8 U7 p6 d
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
! E7 f1 T1 w+ Q9 U3 mto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) H' ^; w7 @9 Y$ aassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# q3 h/ F: B8 H# Fis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
2 _0 ?% o/ J' h) ^% E: D2 wover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, G3 K6 t: ^0 r0 e& J- ~seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 o- a/ u) t7 z' z) H# h; dmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk7 I$ p: j, e7 u/ X/ |
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some0 I' q" l) L9 M: r& K
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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& L/ r4 |1 N* L/ h( w# L9 o- L! K8 FThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( ?, I* m3 i) K6 x5 Pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and1 c' P/ p% H( j# G
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! ^: j0 a: |! O/ F% {; L$ z/ |
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
0 E$ ^+ I% M) ]' h6 W( Bthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
* l0 {7 o# B: j3 l( Esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
/ P$ S) V/ r5 N4 a* jdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
2 s; o. J! i5 P1 n& ?2 w, I& T7 RDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
$ W* [% g) {* J1 ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only' P8 L7 G# y0 h4 u! R- U% C
charge the fee defined by the state.5 N' }4 H1 R/ V8 [* R; k/ C
- G/ S" L6 f- ^: E. P _There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
' b. |+ ^- ^9 M' O* R: Con), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& {' R' _% v$ d; `& m
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
6 w. h" ^% y* Ptruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
m9 H. ]* U* N3 K8 p8 ?seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% W' K. @2 \& Zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: x V& \/ b# N9 F8 O
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
6 i2 h* y' k' a, Z9 n5 B1 L* @2 k0 R0 Uyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ _% ^; V# J9 ^$ H# f" y+ I0 o6 Ttrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( s+ x: S% H: e/ B# o. Y
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that4 a9 N. z% C- |+ H! s/ R8 ^, I; E7 |. y; A
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
, [) M0 G: i, }to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& ]) B8 x$ v2 D6 |: [" h/ k9 b. X4 Nbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
' R; [9 H* G# H/ f! H- Nare spaces.
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( V( ?8 Q9 @. O6 WThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! y# |5 t; Z4 E9 Ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
. \" U5 r; V" Y% K& U. @own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
7 b& \1 N1 M+ D) M4 `3 [% U* k: I40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 n# K0 G2 G" g( V' X% d
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 |' W" X+ f/ x5 k0 g
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
6 F# ?! i+ m3 U7 |& h7 i' Cnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of7 @+ F' K& ?* \
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
# q2 i- l( F M5 x/ zis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 w( b# e" q. a
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
