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) P; q. b2 ~/ P5 u
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
: z! @3 l& {9 Z0 don a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
6 [: A7 S5 z1 b# {0 o4 m# L7 \"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 Q/ m0 v5 u ?! w- p" w
answers to our pointed questions.3 w" I7 S# l/ U& _& a
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: J3 V6 ?# {# ~! J6 [& Q% E
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 j1 a6 S! m5 W5 l; I+ t
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
3 _9 t2 x% H+ _ {( o1 n- C' Sfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams: p* x/ N; @' [+ G1 ~: {
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" y& l' x( N+ T$ k/ }/ N% S0 v. _medical schools.0 y. b2 P6 D* W. X( F) Y5 {
7 ]- H1 X) w: y( LEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the3 O3 a0 e( p+ Z" M. `+ d, ~
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 V0 q4 f- L" }1 g; e/ R( e8 E
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
2 Q a f/ I+ `6 \! q7 r, Qassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 e, Y4 H2 L. ^0 U8 D6 b. h) K* I
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to" `% [; _' `) j
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
( w" f) ]7 f/ E! Dseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
. }5 p" i: J2 H4 G. W4 Xmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- [% R) U F2 c
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
- T( e) e% X) l* c2 S3 s% q! Tsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.3 m4 c2 {/ a8 U1 j: M' n9 k
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ n) e. y$ A# P: d6 o" w
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
/ D/ Z, G+ _7 L2 P! Z6 H% e6 \0 u. Lsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ l! r- }5 X }4 F S0 u; Y
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good5 O9 y2 [5 J1 n8 o6 h) `; q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ D5 ^) h, a2 t" f- k3 Ysitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high$ Y" Z R, d/ ^: K2 ~4 ?
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.! y W7 S- P* X5 x( f7 N" R
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When' Q7 z% G6 m+ R. g, d. ~' ~
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% H) D& D9 f! M, J
charge the fee defined by the state.9 v, B! K/ e2 o$ x$ f7 y; Z0 t0 r
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
! v) L6 S; F8 v3 ^0 R( `on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type. S& x+ \6 P6 R8 @8 ^# @/ j
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
3 O% ^% N3 z% Y$ p" ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( K! T0 {4 C" O$ s" f
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the0 i" S' h+ I5 `
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
0 J" p3 \; h& A. V+ X$ Q Y9 lschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% u. A2 ?3 v x, l- }
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* e! K: V! ]* B4 K+ A1 v& a0 Ztrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# m {5 z) g/ M2 k5 P5 G8 yhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% E2 D( D4 X3 \3 l; x$ ^
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
5 g: P- \( G7 q# U+ S- |3 cto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
( g: D9 M9 R' e, a! z, I& c$ Wbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
8 M# K. }; a% t2 Mare spaces.; H3 u1 _& {" F# q/ q9 u( D9 A
. m( }$ W" `5 YThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi) ?# y, a5 M0 Z) m0 l ~7 L: F
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they: R- @: h# }9 |& H5 X
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
3 N' m9 w: R4 j4 |1 w40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" v1 N e* ]9 i/ mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
4 P/ V" x5 v# n; x+ X" i% Cbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
$ O% `. l$ g: Bnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 G0 \* Y- d5 g+ O" T6 B2 a: vcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& S# ^4 N3 w% _/ A9 i
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 v$ W2 O3 O7 o+ n
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
