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
% l2 M& K) j6 D4 D6 C( Y% Nstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went+ G X& o, s' @) A8 ]- D% U
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# A3 V$ F! P9 b4 g"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give6 d: S; O* |/ S. n4 V
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
* u# L2 N7 w9 P d/ a; g+ O45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand) g" T$ V$ W/ I W% x a
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is) i0 |9 F2 v; S- N4 j% d% B
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 |/ D0 }; z" m6 ]) @" r) A# X& ~to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
5 I4 r& @, X) H. X6 j# g ]) ^medical schools.0 {# W- }7 P' q" w4 K7 o
t2 S; w( B2 I7 \' @# u' ?Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the! @9 e, }9 o* G- }$ b
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
: m5 l* j u4 H2 W9 C3 k2 e8 c# r2 zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
# l" Z# D* o+ K& Vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- o* Y8 D5 e+ d: V" @
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% N9 x: |! b3 `6 [2 v
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There: P5 N1 A$ z7 n: J
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
9 r1 T4 a# N4 X! d7 N" Pmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
( L* |" w7 S. cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some# ^- F7 }+ [+ p
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
+ } b* I) g5 A1 G( K& Pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
+ {( E2 ]" Y2 R0 Rsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
' [+ Y: }- I! Yhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good3 |8 S9 b, H$ s/ G9 M
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
/ }) w& p) L9 @# B! a# L3 ] Vsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 u8 L- P, s+ k; J" M" }; m4 {divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.2 T' L$ X0 n6 p( ~% Y" D/ a, V! U
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When5 X8 x' G+ |' O% f8 }& I
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 V- x* m! ]' @% a# r- f6 c5 L: Gcharge the fee defined by the state.7 Y; b" w4 s( d4 E/ n4 M" O: l
! B7 P- N7 L6 D* T b& p- k* EThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get {. M3 l7 L' o+ G2 x/ j
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- P8 d4 _( `$ h7 ^8 j, p) F
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
# M8 t) S8 r1 s. q) H+ d, ~/ L& \truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
% J; l( G: P" D. q! P- r* Qseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the) C" P( B5 O3 ?) P, r2 y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, D+ m1 y) ^ W: z- Uschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if2 ~5 F( y( W8 v9 n* k M1 J3 a& ]
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ w0 S5 o8 N' ?3 h* B( etrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. m5 ^; l1 D( t2 v2 Q3 z
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
3 ]' r* T- W2 F( c0 j6 {6 j: Hpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want0 F8 A: U; k4 ?$ f0 r7 [# y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
/ { Z" ]2 h' ~1 r% P& Ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
8 v" ~5 m/ a7 ^$ [3 r. U+ p& tare spaces.5 x! N. K; c: Q2 F+ L
2 V7 B$ j" w) U& t2 l( WThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! Z% P& X3 t8 xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) @8 c( |# H- C
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) m2 r9 l& T. k |4 u7 r
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' F! S6 v3 \2 g) L$ t
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
/ M) v4 q/ V* |best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few: w8 u' d7 I' v+ Y* s5 \+ G6 D
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
# ?7 @& G' A- ecar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it b% `1 q/ E) c/ b8 G
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
2 z. S. L# ~5 ]8 ]: r We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
