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
2 `2 \+ J; U& F- astandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went9 r$ Q0 x5 T& J0 [" N8 q/ ^% }0 z+ u
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
- ?9 @: y) q- R8 h: \+ `2 c4 p"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give6 u+ s8 g- n' h0 G# R
answers to our pointed questions.9 t# w% \" h) x+ J# X2 O5 u
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
' a% B! e0 x: r3 Y$ r4 R# S45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
5 f8 x# x) U9 {' {out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: U$ V& B+ n8 l* x4 Afree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams7 u$ u' }. M4 m. Q' o+ w
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ W6 R$ e0 C7 E i
medical schools.
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8 W! [/ ]) t2 m/ {% ^! C2 ]) Y: lEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, F/ \# e4 d$ }: m+ M$ \" c6 |& y6 `government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; `( ]! \+ E8 Q! j* F. Zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; S r% G; d' q' {: Iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ E7 s3 n! R, w
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# Z u/ I) i9 ]% U
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* K# ]1 ?% C8 i H3 \seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
! V! I$ U5 h) v1 T0 O7 C3 z. lmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk0 e* Y% w0 f, v3 y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 {) Y8 e( j6 Isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& g' D/ S- p& L) g; c- c
" G D* t. E/ R- }2 [+ tThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no( N9 o/ `) ~9 n/ j8 Q% d
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
& }1 M0 L- W! ?) I# Z3 ]) Msupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
& S, E" o ]) O& G" yhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
4 O+ ?: G7 w( d$ o! Cthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
; V' l2 y* i7 N/ ^% Dsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high, c9 `7 g" w# E# p" o$ ?
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.. e0 t$ p# N2 v: q
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When. l5 d% t8 H) B g9 K; |
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
' o( O- e* K& wcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ A3 [* L. g, M3 S+ Y7 V; @4 u
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& @7 f( z$ _: Z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ E1 q$ C/ ?( @% d# y
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, `8 {, t6 B# u# X
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the) t5 r% p9 y0 i4 E$ h3 W6 t
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on! ?5 H: b7 K9 Q8 }2 o
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if0 l& ]8 l1 h) `) @% f( W% B
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% b) `+ V2 n& k" V3 d
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch3 w! Y, `6 q8 g% R
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
9 u f. o# x! H# U: i5 a6 dpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( B! ?4 L% \9 Uto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
$ {) P. o: F- u9 k* ~. V1 kbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
! X0 k) p4 o9 Care spaces.: X9 _/ d8 i, O, I( _
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; F) s$ B0 `* v& w: j, ~
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ {/ p2 l4 k4 a X4 Vown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the0 r \ a9 {3 A5 t% b
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
1 m" h: C3 I) N) D$ Rparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the/ ^- w7 o) A- \6 |2 |( Q W2 V
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
, X0 {2 y6 o" G% Dnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
2 Y4 X. R$ v9 `7 w" Acar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; L2 ^" b; B4 Y0 p1 {& gis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
- G. o' a# C: O' W# a' {- J We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
