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
p/ e4 E# L {standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- O& k D( x% P5 F2 F0 {
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ Z; j' w. I. ]" L8 J. ^7 V$ n% E
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
1 s$ j. B8 W8 _: manswers to our pointed questions. Z: U4 \% U. \; R9 C+ y; \5 a1 Z- M
* o9 R4 N8 S4 S1 }The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 A. g6 a- \/ c" j45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
* l( w y( T# tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
! S9 ~% v, y3 I; |; c. K0 I% wfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams) f; c" p$ A9 {6 L( W c
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 l# x- D4 W4 l+ Q6 n3 _medical schools.$ e! U! ^7 A8 Z9 u1 e/ ?
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 m2 w0 C4 ?6 l/ F8 m% t8 o
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants( W" y1 ]4 \/ X- N
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
1 T9 j! K# W+ U. Y/ i" ?( h3 L- Fassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 U+ b) t" V, j
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# @9 j0 ?, p% h
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, z5 u& g5 z# w* zseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, l2 J: Z5 V! ]$ q1 O k
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
, T; |/ a/ G3 N% a4 E0 Bshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
9 L3 X& H3 o7 p7 X hsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& p3 k) P8 F* e! T2 D, h
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 }) L7 k+ ]5 v* k
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ S6 I: i3 y2 g4 U& ~- H/ f
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 w; P* `2 ?8 O$ S1 G0 M% I
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
) h- A1 F4 _6 d( J3 `thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% M. k; M, t& Ksitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 k6 T' H% [1 ?+ c- v* q/ d( i8 \
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 H' ]' _, A8 C4 M6 s) jDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* Y. R0 \8 W7 ]: V: T" w1 P
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 |$ T7 t& l% U) c2 C7 dcharge the fee defined by the state.. ?: x0 b% t, m3 g! s, S8 D: a( t2 g
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 }2 O( t8 ^& {% ]7 s- g
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
8 M2 R: s8 Q* @7 e/ p, h7 Mof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
/ e& L1 g) I8 }% W9 Ltruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. p/ m$ |, D' Y7 a1 S
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the _9 w) @. ^# c/ D: ~" _
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
9 z) V6 A7 f5 d/ w& @$ X/ s1 eschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
; M( N3 a7 G# N& @4 T6 |you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people t, H& B% l4 A, `/ H) u
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch2 g; N( K5 w( i" V/ f* k5 b; O* u
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# |) d% r4 Z& `
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 q9 U, B/ k f& r z9 S
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' C2 v- Y% e# j/ T: o, @4 obuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
% s1 n h; Y3 _* b. qare spaces.9 a2 i9 c. U' i$ y3 Y, z- O* l+ l% A
- U$ g7 J% h" CThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
) D% ~+ ^$ k Mto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 X$ |! a D& n9 Jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
) d' J$ D4 _4 \40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
% ~4 s$ r! w# ~# k: K" Vparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
& C' \1 T7 L! ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few0 b7 H5 V: |4 f( x. R8 x1 v5 Y
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
6 l3 ?3 \ T1 q- j" W, ccar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& Q- [" c# U( {' M' i1 Xis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.; Y9 R* Z2 S3 m \8 F5 g6 |
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
