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/ x }" |+ Y G! I' Z3 X8 {
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% E. \' _) {4 V
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,1 [$ l% i. E) `5 g; H- |+ f3 ~
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ q3 J/ J1 k$ K+ Q. @
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,7 {1 d O5 ]3 t/ b" _( e! i% E0 u
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand2 h2 N/ m, ^7 ]2 U. \- o+ M
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ w& i4 Q/ S8 ]: Q/ h8 `* X" Mfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
6 g1 c7 ~# g& z8 Oto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 o5 a/ w! A! p- y4 P/ q1 v4 M3 Emedical schools.
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- r |" R: s2 {/ O* l1 z3 g2 hEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" P1 l2 a$ ]" Q+ W! Y& l
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants" `+ }" ]* j8 N' E7 g/ m8 ^5 h5 M
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; G3 O9 A" d5 B" w" x: Cassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
4 u9 c0 N4 Q3 T6 W0 ?0 ~is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
- r/ x7 v) ^2 m% e/ ^/ Fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* i5 J0 P' f! p/ [! G" J. F0 ~8 {seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
$ H) y! r s7 O4 c1 W' c. Omostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ N+ K( i/ E* U
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 K( X% y9 z. E" ~8 qsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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$ y4 a5 B' T6 R' J% L- V3 qThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
/ ~% l: C& A1 U# l* D( r" }private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; | R% L4 W# W# I: ^) ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people" {' n& g+ D9 G- j0 M8 Z
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
Q- P9 |4 e I: i( Jthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
- Q& H$ {$ H5 r% tsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, Z9 c9 G5 E1 p# {( n: ~8 ddivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.7 U% q9 ~0 h. Y8 G0 J) f p
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
" t9 g# V2 U) F( Xa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 o( E; v" l5 i4 I2 S! ^' ], H' ucharge the fee defined by the state.. y. d$ n; q1 r* y0 ~1 ~8 {& T' M
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
Y( g# f$ i+ i/ j0 P; t/ e+ ~on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ e% ]* o* I% Gof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ O( K, A7 u6 D8 I( v) G* e
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: n" b% q1 P, [/ ?" [" i
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the& L t. \/ s7 [' t- {
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, a; {0 j% ]- g5 G/ @1 fschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
3 Z& u" Y8 h2 O: I- u. K! oyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people! u6 X$ s. | J/ n) U6 U- |) a
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch; ]8 T* p0 y, f a& l# s
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- O" Q; T) s. N. G. h4 t
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
& n: f0 P7 ?5 |1 ^4 K* Sto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
. v; U/ V; t& m. E2 s* o+ lbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there' ^, C$ Y/ C3 ~( Z0 i, q
are spaces.+ x, t4 o9 I7 V% g: r
8 m# M, K* t2 iThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! r' U1 \0 T. f8 s+ g1 I0 O9 |5 nto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
2 _" v1 {' E6 @7 ]% kown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the3 }$ \0 M9 r" s; J' Y+ M
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different1 e; t! F, L d, U( }
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
# U* g" ]3 N: Y1 P5 M" a$ Tbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few0 r: b3 s- V2 A
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 O. l, Y/ o7 D0 z7 k" Q0 S
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
2 c0 A" B2 w# ?6 J' D5 zis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.6 R& E1 L/ H& V6 e
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
