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
! z& @, q2 p. }+ {( B! h7 vstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
. l: }7 E: D U; Z: f* h8 R2 mon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
! @7 E0 S4 j! k; y7 Y* M"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. a0 w* x. e; g' [
answers to our pointed questions.% S$ t0 _4 [! m5 i. i) V% C8 Z
* \1 @: z4 b3 x8 S- b) d/ m8 z, MThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,0 h# z4 f$ Z! l# o3 T, t
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand- S+ H9 E! Y) a# W" C+ Z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is3 Q1 R' q1 K) C& h6 Q1 `
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. p" s) Y3 H+ {, s0 nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are. k1 y2 i3 K' m" K) P- X
medical schools.
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0 J, G/ q2 A' Q1 W3 Z2 mEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 n/ O/ k* j0 j9 \
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
% {' s/ N/ O' @. Ato go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
* m: k2 g( w" l4 |5 vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba! G" k k# K( q+ L- j7 G
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to9 U$ z! I0 g I" ]. o
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There- v9 B7 D4 B% F
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and9 }/ d' |9 ~( O; M9 j0 ?7 ?% d- a g
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk9 Q W& {" g' }- u! Z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some3 i, ^ R" i+ u
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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# Q1 D7 }2 `& [The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 j! e# b; E, Y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and w6 H; m7 [- H
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people8 v: R3 y$ V% K. o. V0 K
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
4 ^& P9 `+ v+ }0 A Lthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
. ?( x( ~- I: v' Q w$ Ositting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high% ]2 T ?0 ?* k; |* {' [2 W+ C5 }
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 K$ j/ K' Y5 S0 b" i. ]( w/ _
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
9 M8 w4 L! Q1 ^a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( F. H' [ c6 j2 }: ~" U5 l% [* e
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, d5 e' f& C6 L. f$ |on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type1 B( h; Y4 { T# g
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
) `2 J( B ?; `$ A; e; \ t6 Htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
2 H- W* z. R: q# _) W4 z G8 ?seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 }- O- Q0 U) v( _& @2 E
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on/ i. b8 F. x5 d3 p& ^
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
, m% H& E5 x4 {$ l$ z- K, I" Nyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
- f+ O; t* C( z7 _7 w7 U; O! `trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% }' O# J# x- `# L# Ohiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% Y; k( f$ e& r/ x. ~people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 r1 ^. U& e9 ?+ [& u$ S5 j
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
" A; U p( W0 [, v( { }$ d# ybuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
1 G' c0 t/ Z( lare spaces.2 t4 o$ O6 T$ O4 y2 Z! t9 o' R! b1 I
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi# t# v, e) U! X; h$ |
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
7 h A, ?* ?$ X4 u$ O$ e9 b0 R8 iown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 n M7 k) u2 G9 g% d
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
$ h$ b+ t. ]+ a2 Rparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
$ ?; R) r; k- }8 F8 fbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 \* W8 o" k* ?( [- X7 b- K K! ]3 n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 f8 i2 Q( {1 m& J2 V8 c
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
s; b+ i5 s* a6 u6 ^ ?4 x0 Sis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 t6 |4 ?6 |; j, f U3 V+ s
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
