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% j+ I6 v' h! e& Z d- F+ `1 C) {$ N
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
" S/ [4 k) @( m. T) W! P6 yon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
. {5 a% C8 k3 ]9 t0 o"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& u/ H: [, Y9 s5 P/ ]
answers to our pointed questions.7 Y% Y1 y9 n" s4 r% X/ W. D3 p3 Z
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
; L6 n" | S8 [3 n1 `1 A; k0 I45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
0 m* A, g$ L3 Hout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
4 N* _! {* A8 [1 Nfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ K' `! f8 W5 E
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' H: z, R) z& s& p# i
medical schools.
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2 x0 n3 K- n2 i; ^; W0 p0 ZEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( i7 q" `* J! ? r1 p4 V3 R6 l
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
# ?4 z4 v6 O5 `1 ]to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. m5 D! ~5 j2 X) e
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba5 U0 Q4 B$ h8 |; Q: P; [
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. y* |9 b: l; _" A- t
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
8 v& ]: g- |5 }2 F/ h1 ^% wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 l% m! O# \1 j! c$ G
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ P) ^: a5 l, v2 R. B; b
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
' x7 l& S5 s+ [# Fsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 p' }+ r) J4 i) G$ @) X% o* m
6 z: p2 [0 K: T. X) ^& x; \& OThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
7 c3 b/ C0 Q) J7 }0 pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
# ?, R0 o# t4 \' @0 n$ osupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 b) w- |- v8 l' }0 z& t
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ ^" ^0 \& q V7 b4 K. i+ othing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% ^# S( n. z9 S; Msitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high2 l, y! F" m: \
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
! h2 a: l+ g( o) A4 [Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
2 O7 P4 _, n9 | j3 x2 Da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
7 O1 S( Z+ Y; I5 J k3 @) Jcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
1 m2 p- A! w5 f& i& r. Fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
. U/ |6 D5 L, K( Yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ h+ o! z( m8 S6 y6 H
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( _ P4 X1 N: V0 N* \0 v& G) E
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the/ N1 X0 y( t; o( I
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
7 f2 d; A" m3 x7 I& U" ?0 _% Dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
) i1 v X$ l5 s! Zyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
- C; a' P, b( [: O) G6 `trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* w& r7 V7 f8 l" S) r; Mhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 ^- t, C z6 T" p% j7 f* t- x
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
$ ?1 J" c7 f3 ^0 N. ]) Zto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or. X* Q! t" ^1 j" F! j
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! f5 l7 T; `% A" L) m- w
are spaces.6 D' q0 L0 ?9 i
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
# W7 \' V8 n- g' Xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they Y$ S+ F3 N# a2 d3 B- w6 I& Q
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
: Q/ X; B( n; r6 `- b# z40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
& @: b1 F7 f# L. k; o: t& N0 p. Oparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
/ v' \( ~7 e' g1 fbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
( O4 m8 [$ t3 N% L2 t. l! C" N1 jnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 J9 f* S$ T2 c6 l% ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
9 v ]; I8 t' R( W* j' n% ?is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.. i- [# M5 ]& r( K- c
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
