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. X- d) Z, N; I2 c" }8 j6 Estandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 l7 \9 w7 @, {+ _# @! B
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,1 w n5 `) p# k0 @* m( Y
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ D4 X5 [$ |# i$ X, I# |answers to our pointed questions.$ r( W: }% p: m0 J4 ^$ F. e
4 U( u0 R3 r! m! EThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 O: G' B" B7 u7 O; R- Q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# ?2 T# O8 E. W, E6 w+ \
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is0 A5 D' i' k( P! ]
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
3 n4 V' K# B) X8 h7 X, Fto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
) v$ P% W# D, n! \- E0 {: ~4 imedical schools.% u' ?. P1 P( J2 f- h# h
+ N$ k2 x6 ?- p1 ]8 E) sEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
4 S( [1 j+ y2 ugovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
/ J3 ?$ z6 l* Pto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years6 h2 v8 X7 E+ q6 p( O, T3 |
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba0 e4 j6 {5 { T, n2 E" b
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! x* [0 R# c+ [: @! M
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
7 Q# h5 t3 f! J* R' L, Lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and7 ~) g7 F7 n; S9 k6 F+ |6 O, l
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk9 H1 ?7 s% _7 W, J
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
+ p) n' R4 W4 _6 N0 A4 u$ Y. fsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.5 q" ~* R/ [7 F' d/ z
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
, L8 ?, r4 V% x3 g3 tprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
7 X/ v6 |, Y# `. s+ b& y0 ]supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! U) X0 v+ |5 n2 S# i
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good, F/ t* p: j8 l8 Q% v
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 y$ {* E: m/ u+ I' d7 c# I
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 q% }5 b2 V" h. D$ L+ k
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.2 p9 S3 P* C7 [7 m& y
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When5 H5 y3 T2 E- e) z1 x4 ?4 P
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
1 Y! }* u: P+ n& n* ocharge the fee defined by the state.+ G' w8 v& i& s6 w
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get6 b7 A# Y3 a- i4 c
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! _ K Z, e6 X8 Uof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big0 R( M! E) l- x* x! G5 S9 P
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ o1 \, |% Z; \& ^5 F1 D
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" J7 u' G2 F, a9 E5 V
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ s% R6 L( }" Q- ?
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if0 c" ?; t) w# P, W/ i* k$ m
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people2 ?* Z; v( D9 C# ?7 ~/ E4 [# A- A
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
h. }/ Y( }" G- a; T, {+ T. E0 fhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
7 i4 E7 J7 J3 {2 H8 j+ V. _people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( T8 u4 ^6 \2 x: gto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
0 o+ J. M9 F |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 c/ b2 O0 I, X* s
are spaces.! u8 I/ g9 q4 F
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" u1 ~ A5 O* V( Y% g/ L1 P8 b/ z- P
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ y) A% X- A7 [1 D5 m7 G B
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
( H- @4 e) z w& X6 v( ?+ U% k40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different. a# h1 a. i8 k
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
' k, F/ ~) A# ~' [( h+ xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few. c1 u% Q8 `2 _3 [
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
, O0 F& S' X( P! `' Vcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 u$ l, w4 J) {; m
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 A5 d8 ^/ k0 l' I+ D
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
