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( ~9 p; t, f7 q
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, E6 w' j: _5 s1 X% }$ f+ q- x; lon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,5 c! P& g" x" ~+ ~- Q
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( K: i6 w4 r' S* s% _/ O$ K9 t, i, yanswers to our pointed questions.% g" n: R; J& \% G2 p5 }8 ?: u
( m' g' i( c' x# G$ W6 N$ NThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& }+ p; N6 a9 f2 X" e p
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
- N4 E0 }6 O) W" dout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
, a9 t0 ]5 D1 c: ]+ H- `0 n1 wfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 @& ^: t+ m! @. H
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are* ?7 G2 M6 }% k
medical schools.
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" @$ }4 G- _3 x! ?0 k9 ^6 zEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
2 K2 Y$ j* a1 ^government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants" p/ r6 n. V$ n# J
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years' D1 O% M0 f d( N
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; W9 J5 _5 t2 h( W- Eis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
1 @$ ?- H' f" N2 m. P" |8 l& L9 Vover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 `2 o( i' v. K" m1 z; }* A' ?seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 D- F2 {4 D& \ U0 i( [2 D
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk& f% }/ Z8 m( j* @3 ]5 k
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 O/ H; A# R, X& \+ M5 D! R& `( fsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
2 z9 v# ~" J" S# y
Y% q9 E" m8 PThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 j' y- Y; @6 \6 ~
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: \3 @" O$ I( j$ d8 ]8 x/ F
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people4 j. t* S0 F8 [9 G/ {3 |1 K. ~# }
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good B5 \3 t8 d( u5 Z! Y6 D
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby1 S$ K z. H2 {6 C' |
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high/ X \: W3 ?$ o9 M3 h8 o: |) p
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.- {0 U! a0 x/ E1 Q
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When$ s& H2 H' _* h4 @2 [
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) s# v& r. ^9 u5 b2 O- G9 z
charge the fee defined by the state.
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4 s v- c: B" n! tThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 ~1 p# t1 V: B9 u, ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
4 E( U# k7 ~: s3 D" T- d5 hof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big f. W, O' `# _( u" g
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. [1 a# R7 B* c
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
6 b& _: D7 P& H& R/ z6 V- V" uworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" ?; }3 n2 s5 J- r- J/ W+ A
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
1 M* z, u( [" H9 z0 ^; P0 }you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
8 h2 g$ B- Y9 a! I! q. Etrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch3 t% r$ I/ M8 s4 d! m
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that+ k! E( L. v" e o+ o. W- B( M
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 n1 j1 A( I, gto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& `# u* ?+ E9 V5 a8 D
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there5 i& o( t+ i% j
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
& ?5 ^% G% C$ D+ Gto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they( V D. G8 u3 P* j
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the/ v: @0 `7 E& Y u% K$ x
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* v8 r* E5 f( ^/ v
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 s0 i& R1 {/ G8 {- J4 w0 C2 ^, T
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
3 k3 |/ q* U2 }$ }# @nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 q% J' _1 @3 e3 J6 X$ X9 W% j
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
: E+ b+ t9 D1 A0 S& q ~is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.4 m/ S' v' ?1 c( n
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
