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
b* [: B2 o7 k: d0 lstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 h; k" N9 R- \
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 P+ E9 M/ O) E4 H" i# C5 b' k
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. |& T: P( w" }
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
- s8 a, k2 Q9 @8 b" ?45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
1 X( B, C7 o- N2 v' Fout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
5 d) e# A% \ x5 R- F4 }free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams7 W3 Q, E; y/ G) b8 I. {
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are8 s. ~' I- D. O( {. N) m
medical schools., S: K) [/ T+ p" K# _
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: U: h5 k( n2 H: D7 Y; t) Bgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants; z w# @5 l% i
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
3 Z* J' w7 T7 n. V; y8 }# gassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba# c7 t2 L, c) ?4 ^7 ~" [
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
, z0 g: I/ D* ^( s3 \6 J) D- wover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
# r/ u! @; C) C% |* Aseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and* e. ~) x+ M4 ^
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
; a* I# D$ Q: A" w: Lshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
$ w2 m$ {' o8 o" x) O$ _1 @sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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0 ^. [- Y/ C+ t* l4 E6 i& T0 `The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# A3 l+ Q/ z$ W7 M
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
5 p) ^1 X3 g( p0 qsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) W, X$ P4 T7 k W( `
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
0 o" n% x9 V a0 p' i' ~thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
; B# m( R% f1 A: U: Bsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 s4 q6 J% o) ^; M
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years./ p/ \+ u) T7 r: U
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
. e4 r; G4 M W$ {1 C8 Ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
P ]# E( l$ } J4 R& D) u! {. i6 s! Pcharge the fee defined by the state.
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) c, ]( [% X+ v% h3 ZThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 j1 o1 N1 f6 I0 w7 \, J9 C/ ?on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ K7 n& D' Y/ T$ {7 C3 Pof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
2 d- }4 }6 m& s* itruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
# ?7 J! x* ^3 ~, ~$ X7 {8 S( p$ P; Fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
9 N' c: z* R5 a5 s2 ` G# \working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
3 G+ ]) a3 d2 uschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- ~; h% [/ h8 p' U" o* X
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people6 f$ ]: x# G$ s2 k r, @
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch& b& g& k) P9 } {
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 E/ k' o- ^* i4 l. U5 a# D/ speople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" a4 ?; u7 j- j' t$ ?+ vto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
, V+ ]9 v3 u# v+ Jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there/ s; O: O, C: F4 _" p: _2 ^
are spaces.2 o* f0 \2 S8 d. l$ m
4 A, [( A* k1 ` L S( {3 J" yThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 G- t6 z1 N+ ]* g/ g7 |0 b: i
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they6 `. }% s2 r+ N( l8 m! _" x8 w
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 N/ l4 ^; q" u0 O$ d6 x) y
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' E0 c2 p8 X! m# f4 a& Sparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- G! h3 Q0 a$ X# o$ K/ `best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
( p( Z8 l3 s4 m" Q' P7 {* Knice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of( j N3 X6 c% H/ V6 ~3 L
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
- f# E6 U7 M k1 Jis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.% Y' Q% c4 k. C J/ [! U
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
