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
6 }1 e# w% }* F$ j; e1 ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went: a1 I% `% W# @6 k0 Q! M& g" W
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,) _8 q8 E- @; u) v2 v$ V
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, r1 ]1 f* f0 P, _. i m3 [* I
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
. J. s7 ~: }' Q* p0 ?45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
3 g4 ?, g6 c8 r/ @, m9 Hout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
( f& o6 g2 V4 K' afree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
! Y3 ~+ q! d; I0 hto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
+ }, S, N3 E4 R. T9 Qmedical schools.9 v' @# w9 p$ }
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the& ?5 p1 \, t( l. `7 `
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
6 C2 ^2 x# [7 d* | Zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( [8 G/ Y; T1 t8 n: l6 J
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% M# @. i$ [0 ?. N+ d+ l, b. gis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# o& I6 _/ g& k4 ?2 Q3 L* J/ k. r
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
3 r) ~& N6 A! @& @& m3 w4 rseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
: T$ F* v2 [6 t; d& {- I* X( ^mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
8 |0 q, F! }& y$ n1 nshortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 K) R; v, r' P, t9 K
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.8 U, l6 N3 {1 T6 A+ K) q+ u7 x
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
$ R5 i2 t9 C2 d0 A$ M6 P+ eprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% T5 ~4 ^+ F; a7 o
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people, p( m, U$ I- H4 d! x. X
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good& t3 ~$ ?1 r; l* n# Q( [
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby v& q0 b1 V7 J
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high7 K9 G3 Z& @/ U1 [5 {8 S
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years., x. x. D- B, k$ i6 z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
3 t/ ^ O, F0 m# }a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
_$ o7 U; K( q1 O# Ncharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
) k) e/ T' _" @/ e# hon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! d. \ G# ?% _1 o
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, v8 Y& ] ^1 o) H8 h5 E/ d: {: \truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
( V% h- [. @$ @# Zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the6 Z9 b) {6 `6 _5 K
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on* K& k! k0 x: {: |! Q1 E" r3 T
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 J! Q; m9 J$ r# F4 R
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people4 N6 x6 F) F8 U5 [( X
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
" N, O% q% ]% c0 X' dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
/ O# P1 `9 H4 jpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
3 y. S) {) }* {5 S" i$ |& O: Bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ H- K3 W$ o- V( N: _
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there" |: P+ n% Q3 h3 m8 U: X: W
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 x1 k6 t% A4 o( T* M9 T/ _# I
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& m m. K3 T0 C9 G: `9 a
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
7 J! n2 \" i( P) |40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different" X" N; ?- k/ `* D0 r
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 H: n2 {6 V, R
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
7 w( O; A1 @1 vnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of6 B% _) Z z) ~
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it0 N4 x+ P) P" v( T% Y9 m+ K, M
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! [9 z O+ [: z9 F& \( G+ G
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
