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$ B/ `+ _& O- h* d% X
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 ?- d) {7 t8 P+ A7 k: con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
, X& }; d& G. Y& _" _, E7 }2 e"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
7 I7 r% u5 X7 o' I, s) x( D0 O8 p Qanswers to our pointed questions.
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% m4 D3 J5 v& u. S1 I9 C bThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( N6 M) r3 N0 B
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
# V8 V) Z& e0 J7 O4 Sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
4 I+ J/ e( @: D# _8 g. nfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams2 N9 H3 s: c$ p' e6 l; O5 m
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( J' T& N: O S3 P$ D
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ }9 K m& B5 I1 y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& q& B# X0 u1 c1 c" T2 ^
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years; K+ c* E; x t
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba) m# n, q1 y1 L
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to d7 Y* F2 f" J7 P+ t, {
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! D/ i9 V2 f, D* e- Sseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and3 O/ c l, q8 Y5 X
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! V7 _% X9 x0 c6 V9 [0 p! D/ }$ X
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some9 ]! W0 F/ F( [2 l/ E9 k, V
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! b) d/ L/ }9 p) I' B
1 S8 S$ _/ q$ R; g2 I! PThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no2 n- p& D1 T8 V, q
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 W4 Q! ^% k5 c7 }9 O8 a
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 p( z+ S" [6 O% w2 U
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 P/ v% u6 ^ l( q% s
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
2 k4 O/ ~" y# _% P+ xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
K5 Y+ n& z: x8 h2 jdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
h, S( J& E+ w/ ~* [Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
; N6 Z6 `2 v! U4 m, p+ fa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" P8 V- q& E1 W: k) q, K- J
charge the fee defined by the state.. B# Z4 `0 I" V. |$ N" m
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
/ r& o+ a! ]. D+ Non), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! F' ^! z8 o( \8 y
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big% G, [ F* i9 m& u B
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
, ]8 |7 Z1 l P: G; vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
1 Y2 Y! d" M/ S) ~working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 u3 Y4 T5 ^# X7 m# N: w
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if3 f; Q) ?9 W4 u
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people; I' A; ^/ g, q
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
: ~" L# G! {! _6 ^5 A' o- {hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 w6 ^& b( V# y# j* Q! ^" r; |- n
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
2 K t, N" e$ P2 V1 I8 Z! H l4 G) I5 xto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
3 Z( U1 |2 U) k6 {7 jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there. e+ f% z. q* z5 a, e5 @( K4 G
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 y4 G1 G g; M- X) O2 ^$ Uto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they; D( }9 F8 |" E( G
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the1 |( y) j: ^# m; D7 Y6 Q" r; S
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' a& N" N" u) Q" v& p b: n# E
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the8 u7 l3 o# H0 i' d/ d
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few* Z6 M# F0 y. k! d* A- M& E: S
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 q; k" `' x# P+ q7 i3 N
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
x/ ?" c! V$ C1 j2 f5 U' tis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
% @( g) k) Y( s We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
