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: b0 j, Z3 F; H/ w. i# v/ j
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
) s) G) u0 z1 Z3 h9 }3 ton a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,) G- n2 r* g8 Z* j$ H( ]
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% n) k1 e2 s, V. ]" |
answers to our pointed questions.
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9 M" f4 ~3 B' aThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& A5 y d/ B8 ^$ n. S+ X
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand, k& L7 @. G' e" m: N$ m, I3 n( _
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is2 R8 G9 \9 M) T# f3 o Y+ p
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
3 { m$ Z( o! z- a6 F+ {) C$ Ato get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& X5 y: M: _* u7 f+ cmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
( x: g! G" p) V& I5 s, Tgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants" Z) o. `1 }3 L
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years* S1 o# O! G/ L' B# U. ~% Q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba! h1 ]+ @2 c1 Q" C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
8 q8 j" b7 j2 G" Rover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
; f; ]2 g: o/ R1 |( Y# K5 Pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
6 v2 m) f$ {6 J$ ^5 nmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 o. m) k) O7 |" F3 f/ J4 B
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some0 x& \6 y: y8 m C+ y# P
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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1 c6 I. s+ v! N) @2 |( q% kThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% f& _. z; e- t. Y" T6 |! n
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
: n3 D. P/ C' e* ?5 }9 s2 qsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people+ H$ H& j- P0 k. t {
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good7 I% e& i; E. Z, U
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 L) c) y9 O& O. e6 T! z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 m4 F: a$ o6 {" P: ]& Hdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 @+ k; v3 B0 b) t1 XDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When7 }4 T. i4 D. ?% h* I; I
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
( t3 A. J1 w: l5 Vcharge the fee defined by the state.
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7 h+ g( S, A7 D2 v# o9 m j4 MThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get a( ~, A& @9 e/ N$ g3 [- C
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 F! H( J/ F0 p* X Y0 Iof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: _' q. ]0 C5 c8 K4 d2 Z7 C6 w# Z3 E K1 G
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel) w5 n+ T$ P! M8 c; i; E. @# z
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
' Q; @- _1 u" Bworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on) \4 D( \2 D! N( N" [5 ~, z4 x
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if0 x! I: b6 E: T4 L
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
, g8 s3 W# J$ O$ [1 w) l! D6 P. k( }trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch4 |/ b3 P% i$ e
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that* j; X! A! _% \; a! m* E5 ~0 O
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
; {0 Z& h# s. u4 `/ I9 x' `3 Dto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 q5 g- M5 u7 c8 w* V
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 B; N4 ]6 N6 E: u, J0 G
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
$ f2 I5 c9 J" _) Dto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
/ H5 C+ c4 ~- W" s" u1 s- i8 A; g" gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
s" } P. V, H2 e/ U0 Y: r8 X G40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different) }, }8 I2 Y8 G- w/ I+ V
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the/ B5 N7 G, P3 F( M7 \9 X
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
6 H# f A8 r4 s2 _nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
0 Q" N4 h8 v3 w7 ]car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) k5 ]4 t4 F1 A- eis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.# P8 ?8 z$ h9 Z0 e, R: c
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
