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
' D' ]8 U8 V- k7 f, G# t, k- {* Estandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went" n0 L) x! w+ \2 s f
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,# C2 y' u- C2 T q: F
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, n; j5 I/ I5 Z8 f( Y, ~
answers to our pointed questions.
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$ E& F4 W9 {: l: VThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
: |, F# G2 A* W1 y" t2 M: H- R4 l- m45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 i4 K( l- c) g K1 g2 y
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
- s" E1 w$ q# d' j0 @free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 Q5 D8 Z& S6 I8 X8 i8 t) Fto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 h" @2 ~1 N0 e* L0 Vmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 B+ X/ a9 r4 T
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants5 n# T2 q$ b% N( ?7 W9 t, ]
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. T1 N# ?$ ^0 a; d& { Q: i9 i
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba2 U; \! j# R1 Y9 Y# e
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) l0 a* [- X- |$ y* u: Z2 ]& C8 i$ n4 S
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
& d a5 s3 i$ ]4 k2 w, [) h- dseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 s4 f3 |7 E7 u7 dmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ^- l6 F6 ^" ~* w+ \+ j% D. _7 Q
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 X% o8 _# P/ [( M- h+ ]) z3 u, S5 r$ l' msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.4 q3 K2 J6 c3 ~* s% q: w
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
! s ]+ ~# ~! Q4 T1 J0 r+ uprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# ?8 k2 [2 U& Y0 d
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
9 i$ l( i7 p u7 S* s ?! d- ^have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
# R/ c0 e, P3 ~0 H/ o/ Rthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
7 w: x. }. d; Z9 Rsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
2 y9 W7 f( y8 g o- h n) B& Sdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
) |( B# n* n) N oDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
1 ~# G6 }, }6 n, m" G' n9 b; ^a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only# Z0 D! _9 K/ [ h# S9 Y
charge the fee defined by the state.
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; ?0 w: n. W: }1 _- ?" T0 {There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 C) e' \( `* a% @on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& P5 q- K9 u6 U! H4 n( y" I
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" }. o. e5 A) L
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel) G) {: |( l+ C8 [: P
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
4 ]4 Z4 t: a7 ]# I4 v/ f: Iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on# I" @. T7 g# b3 X
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
, B, h5 ?7 h7 e0 `you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ @9 F5 C: b. f+ k5 V6 q2 ^trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
; v9 G3 a+ V4 |: X) ?& chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- {& d: B1 h3 d: @1 }( a( S' e
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( j* G0 o! H/ m0 u3 u, Jto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
+ x8 u/ F" x7 C0 D; j% v( Z4 tbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there3 R9 }: b) f9 u/ _( y* ?& V
are spaces." p% G/ G" U! V" S7 O+ e5 G6 t
) g* V2 Z8 I- _5 V, `There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 p4 t& H2 f6 m" V: r* r
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they' F9 \: I8 }; [ u% ?9 B# K" _
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
2 K5 u$ J& m7 u3 |; q40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
8 @; ]2 @( I6 S E$ P2 [1 sparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 U. f8 G& g! b& W8 V, _4 ?
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
1 A. D& b7 ]5 l! i/ rnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
' y6 d. F. \) D- u# X) ^car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it) O8 W) U5 m! c- V) D
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
' ], m8 h1 @6 {0 }. }" Q4 K We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
