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& a$ c( I8 z7 H! d. n3 f; d
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went; [1 N5 S. Q$ w) i- W! h7 d3 _% S
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
9 F0 t7 h2 ?8 @& ~+ ?"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
* \2 L7 B. e0 c; oanswers to our pointed questions.
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0 I$ l* g7 s1 q+ c" mThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 r! }: b i# P, F+ B$ Y$ n7 [45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand+ q+ u4 G) Z- k0 R2 u2 V
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
( j/ h) a, T9 @" Q# v- o+ u% Ufree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
: @/ w: R( ~' p& i, S& hto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
7 d" l1 q- _2 ^% ^5 ^medical schools." l& A3 V) f& X/ `6 X8 P! N5 a
& @) B, V% e1 p& `5 ?# z1 vEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the* C% X3 i) `) i1 i4 k8 W+ Z& i/ i( l
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
4 r" [9 p. Z6 T- fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
# F& h D! h, q2 n. Iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
3 i* p! r& ?$ A6 ?; Sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# V* l2 ], a% @# o3 u6 O
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* N9 x+ I3 [# ~" N3 P$ w+ |* yseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
& |* H6 q/ @% T6 _mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk. M) }$ C. D0 C1 t8 ^. w0 G, B4 j% o
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some" f1 N2 O5 V7 ]& A3 F
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 k3 E: B% x+ h" I& j
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) T' {$ A7 ~$ [* ]* l0 v
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
3 C) K- v4 P. D) h) n4 D4 V* x+ qsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, N6 j- k; E; b/ zhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 _* b. F) u! \5 }. d' u
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ m5 f l2 K, O, ~sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
* m4 r! |' R8 Q. d+ zdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.1 P- w' I" O) D+ J1 A
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: e% V5 u0 t+ e- d( Y
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* \+ g/ e7 C. K8 e( r _
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
7 ?. X, J: V' |0 r5 ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, i0 Y/ x& y _+ S! M
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
) e& t$ h5 w4 E7 q* k( Htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- z7 a$ Y0 o' P; l7 G2 t. n. ~* L
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
1 ~* |! Q7 x- V. N4 A' [* Sworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on3 I0 J' [! `* D4 x5 M! B: `. M
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* M2 r% K+ b# q, ayou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people( ^; Z, a8 A4 l7 k: f1 z- v& ?1 [
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ k, \6 J; ?* U
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ A' c" D6 ]( C* g7 k
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
; ]3 c+ Z9 a( C8 eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 [# d! L9 O; t4 h/ Z4 q
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
' n2 Y# B3 E9 w# C# S& Vare spaces.
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0 {8 c( I8 l. F9 q& S! S- NThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi' b2 s2 S( U! e! `- f4 K/ d
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- `# f4 C& F$ a8 ~$ `
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the% p3 Z a5 O; j9 c/ ^# {
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, _7 m* Y! ]+ rparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) f" v& u; K! j) Z, i ]
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' q5 f+ X9 w; g. b8 j3 Q: K$ W
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of' u4 `% g) d5 \8 a; b7 V' G% e9 [
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it! M' N1 |( v/ o
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 z' G, c: G# g+ c0 O: r We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
