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, X6 j( Y. S f: Tstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went" Q, U9 \9 h$ k1 k- [
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
- ]( O. Q/ R! }1 t, d1 L! {; s"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
7 A# x# H: L9 Q1 ]( n% K; kanswers to our pointed questions.5 r! D I0 R+ L6 h* E
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: \! g0 n+ B9 H9 I2 x# Y
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 ?7 }+ w4 {# m% \, K+ I1 `
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
* c4 H- d" u' d! m! D. N: lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams* p5 D# b3 C* D) `2 F- Y/ ~0 _
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: h5 Q1 \/ b0 Q+ Bmedical schools.. R: Q. L. I& ?8 g7 s% Z* U" q
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 j& b- G. l* ]! r" l6 Q
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants+ Y3 |; `) ?; B
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 k. H* n6 S4 `+ U- Y
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba# Q$ Y- k( Z3 U8 A& R/ h7 P
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to: G, T1 D. {) a5 t# c F
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
# [6 G0 n) m( zseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' U" g8 e- {% B8 @
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 z- Z" Q& R( x0 E
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
. c: ? m/ g# b z. L7 M5 v+ Asugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
2 P* C$ C- r% K v2 x* _private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and) M" B$ G ]$ l& j/ N5 ^1 D
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. m9 ?: F/ }2 p$ M
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good/ Q$ Z9 r& e* D5 F% ~
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby' T2 e" E0 M7 E1 y: c6 K6 Z( j3 H
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( m$ h$ \! D: v2 A. m3 ~
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.. O$ m' f O" y- K8 ]
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* v# A. L t* d# M1 [3 [, J& q) Ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
4 z& E1 Z& h5 ^/ Ycharge the fee defined by the state.5 |( V) v# P2 F# U# u: n6 j
$ |# O4 e4 T; d; LThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
$ N' j1 H, l$ Z) Von), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
' H7 d. `& G5 k0 }; gof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big' O8 b: N& M; j' Y
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 Y' @8 G0 Y" d
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
# d0 Z1 ~1 z$ k, Qworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on* {# {2 K# g* e2 w" R
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
# ?: S' v! T! g' Q6 oyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
+ ]0 F) s* Q+ H2 n, ]4 O6 g% t! rtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
' w2 T; W: v/ @8 \2 dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; u- x5 n6 ]- E2 Y8 M1 ]2 z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
, E7 |' d) u0 b. ^to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
+ m( F+ U' M- V* |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there. s @+ i4 ~* A9 Q, [
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
# n9 }( n) B/ n, V2 Sto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 G+ ?# S# s' P1 O! {, U3 b' ~
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! {9 b' }; x" m$ {% @* l
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
) u9 z8 r5 W+ e1 Bparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the, F' o* n- m& `/ h- i
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& q7 J8 i' w9 f" {# v* t! i) j3 ?
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
3 Z; \ K( n( q2 j2 ocar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it$ V- U' s5 L# L' Q
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.( f9 d+ Y/ [: k1 ^& O
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
