我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living9 i8 H; g; ]$ |6 S2 k4 R
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
0 t) A& q4 u0 ~ w: G% ]. Son a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
, x& Y# P% t+ P0 L1 r6 @"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give- y y/ D5 I9 r; D
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 C1 h \( [8 \' `6 W1 S
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
9 c' s- `4 S# M, P5 S$ x3 v; V* sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
" J# C' N, p& N5 R) s, n1 yfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
: W5 N- b2 V9 x) V$ t" kto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( m n( A/ [' V. m
medical schools.0 u; y2 \! E# ~; o" N( m# t, N
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the0 F1 }3 H2 z6 |& U* g2 g
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; i# u8 V, f6 V7 [to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
2 x) {% _1 f. Eassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, w1 Y5 V& e9 }3 n: ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 N7 J) Y$ b1 }
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There( \, D: Z0 e8 }7 E
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
1 e" J; @5 L) b( e0 R8 C# Wmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
/ n7 r) U$ v8 X( u0 i w9 K2 ushortage which the government is addressing by converting some, _& P" e4 r% b: ?7 |) U
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& R7 s+ t+ `4 U0 C: u/ c) N* W
8 R1 U- Y! N* i+ O! q. k1 m1 bThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 s; d7 `# d( I$ H4 i% _( j0 O
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ F T" b/ r( s: Ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people* d4 c5 C+ s% ]% ^* J' D# Z
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 [5 a9 i, J3 Z" w' p
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
& y+ i- b# o! c! Q* Rsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& H% c: ^$ `( s' x# x1 ^divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 K* `& l" Y+ U J# m4 C7 g
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
3 F6 D) E3 F9 |! la lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. o; g. W! ^! x7 l+ R
charge the fee defined by the state.- G: \/ G9 N1 g9 U1 ~
% I2 T `0 z* k( }' ~0 d uThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# f" q! ?6 K5 \
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type9 M8 u) J/ c+ h
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
4 I- A2 c8 U+ }9 Q5 z, Rtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel% Q0 e( q* n; N, @- l Y: Y* X
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 O/ q) {: Z" k# v$ a2 U: g
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, W; {; J7 B r3 Q% L/ N1 ]schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- ~% K" K# V( b
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
- G; G0 ?: G2 u# D" h' {7 Ytrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 ]" P c% I: G+ u
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
5 j% q6 ^$ `: Q3 t! w7 ]5 x* e: Upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
/ @0 v. J+ n% d: W7 |) Bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or7 T0 a& ~% s8 B# H `0 A
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 l' J6 N( g, J1 tare spaces.+ s+ ~6 L) f- p7 t. ? a
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: N6 I$ f q; G* P6 b/ z% F j
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 X" N; N( Q+ L0 K- `
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the1 i* r1 |0 |1 O2 C4 E
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
9 H% G& f6 g* sparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the# s2 x" `! l& a q* q6 K
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
: H- m$ i* P% R: k4 i7 l: [5 }nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
: |% E2 X) w9 o3 z8 r! ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ x8 V! a* _, t8 t
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ t6 J$ d4 I% P& n* [5 z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
