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
" V/ G6 `! h: e6 o3 n$ q' Estandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 ~' F. ^# {& Q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,6 n4 O5 J& u1 R6 t/ C( E
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
- ?+ G0 h1 _* Z7 |, m: Danswers to our pointed questions.7 {4 T8 O$ V# }
3 R+ @* ~2 [8 r1 T& x4 S/ {The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
_0 f9 O2 g, P5 T! D. \" B. V45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
9 L7 y: v8 [& Aout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
3 j) c" Y4 |1 Sfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 F/ D. b+ x# E# u: Rto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 C( x& z* Y( m% u
medical schools.) u7 O' v. B( ?7 N& B' n/ j
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, [" N1 b. o4 |$ ~: [government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
5 x8 f. Y& q1 i7 A! lto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
: X: d. d! n9 @- d2 [; Passigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- p3 |5 b7 L3 |/ X8 l$ P/ Bis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
" X: K1 V$ G2 F+ {4 @over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
e$ E- S L, B h; iseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 h& J4 o6 |- B/ u0 \
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
" i% J4 k$ x5 Y' Qshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 E0 S0 F6 T- `; |$ G% [0 y+ b3 Psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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- Y% u7 Q: m1 c: |1 R% F, d, U' jThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 J7 N5 h7 X& j/ C
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
7 h+ A$ Q/ w9 v# Z. esupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
4 d0 s" x2 y5 |- v0 [& fhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good5 ` y9 a8 P$ G
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( A8 i8 X' w" g+ f8 s, s
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, _% M6 |6 F5 u0 u) T0 T$ \divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; d. z2 z3 b+ @ E+ \2 {Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When5 Z$ b( P9 S- I2 n" i& N+ l
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
! D/ U- W! C3 D- o6 ucharge the fee defined by the state.# E# B- g# |/ H& J
9 `$ E' \3 z# u/ F' }6 nThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ K! F9 Y! U* O, J8 m3 [. ~$ q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type8 e2 X( ~; r" ~9 J+ W% Z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- |$ P$ ^8 I" }2 ptruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 O2 `& V8 `$ d6 y' J2 q1 R% |
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the. _; r- y! Q X; L' y0 i+ [. a7 u8 e
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
0 e# O' w. P7 O$ ^schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
& X0 [% ^! y0 \7 l* @+ Kyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
; a/ S" K6 }3 {9 o# q# @trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch; _7 N' Z6 Z: Z3 \
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# C3 M' f7 s2 [6 K, y
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" P+ o& a5 [0 d$ u f |
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 ^3 g; O# ^" X! A& W
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; R; x( r, r5 e( p2 |
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! ]6 R* B& w6 D" U0 Oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
* U$ ^# h( G @ J- x( \! jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 H! z1 ~1 k4 @* v40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ a% i: g8 ]& `! d$ i! O! C% _
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" O, h) w- R7 z
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
! Q! F$ A. M1 K" j: Mnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 p7 @2 y0 B# ]7 s" ]( `4 D" u
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ _4 A$ G2 Q6 x: X. v) L# o
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.) m# P; _" ]( Q! c
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
