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
' c* j `8 q6 v" s- W& w' Istandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 v' g G4 d, w$ L2 @! }
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
" N' N5 n: @' l/ ^! M+ f"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give# k; P! O5 i s% [; ~3 W, v
answers to our pointed questions.+ K- h, q1 s$ S& ~' ]0 d
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ t! Z: w8 z9 }- @45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
% l& m) h6 `0 M7 vout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 V: ^# @2 Q& ^2 o( k/ F
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; Q0 K, W: t8 z7 A, \& Fto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; N! h/ S) f4 S# d" N# E2 umedical schools.
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: V/ B' o7 w( _# |/ nEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
; R6 v7 Q& x8 a$ sgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 w o% m3 l1 S8 \4 ~5 `
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years: X W5 N; e/ |: z1 x7 @! t) R
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba; A+ e7 ]! n' _9 R
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
. l! k' P( H2 l+ uover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There* R) z+ U' `9 D% z# l
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and+ w8 n0 `( K0 B. }7 v+ h
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk3 X. s7 ^# ~/ Q: \' _" `
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 P) L( f+ m4 |4 f O$ }* I
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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+ D7 k. F% B. c1 u7 xThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
/ `) d" {* A$ z: q) J. P! g" E! [private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
- U; ~# z* Q0 j- c0 `supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
6 R+ i+ S ?% V2 n& {( \# |( _! Bhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good( R, I7 | x% R n: }* K
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* b) Y4 I3 ~) ~1 W; R% ^) C V
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
( M4 w/ K3 _$ b2 g/ {/ U( gdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% ]& G* m- q/ G( f5 [( I; z7 ~
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
7 h) u) E: O/ x1 y7 [2 v0 ]a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
# X: L0 c) ^/ zcharge the fee defined by the state.& a0 V/ E0 `( s8 o& y
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get2 @# A- `" {6 i+ ?0 S
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 W4 N+ W7 F% w' D7 jof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 [$ V) L6 K! Q5 P" t( U( N
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. v. `) p1 d) c# t% \
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
: t! j* V' Y, |1 v! nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
4 i& @* r" U7 c0 P. }/ Gschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
( h& Y/ h% d2 m' i' ]you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people4 u% U# I1 y, U& A( | @
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
$ f1 g' }, |# B' T- |9 H' f/ uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
) S6 v/ ~ k7 e* m, A5 Y7 ^, Dpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want$ ~/ V3 i$ L3 w0 x h) N
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or6 ~3 u2 h7 Z1 E; J. O9 j6 Q' _8 |
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
C2 x. ^# m2 G9 q. f( Nare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 Z" |5 |/ V* r7 L
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
& }: `2 \4 D5 h' Q! Bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
}6 N1 r1 C0 h" j4 u40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
( s- J4 x8 u! {3 P$ fparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
7 t/ P, {, `/ c: ^) C, E& E% H6 wbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few5 X C( m2 N; T% y
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
4 w1 H- ?+ A X) M7 z: J9 \car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
- h1 W. x: d9 K" B2 Zis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
# G8 q$ p6 D3 e/ q' W We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
