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 B2 J @6 t! i {2 ^standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, A# Q0 ~( g+ y. Pon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,# E' a) b5 f* Z- k
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ @% Q: c! C8 L- i0 o) r
answers to our pointed questions.0 C% F$ _* Z" e( y* C9 }
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
4 R4 f. k1 r0 u* \8 K3 `45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand) Y/ `* y# a- R
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
& o6 s- i# n) e/ N# N R- X2 V" I8 tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( L J. ^$ u* v p+ u
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
. V& P; l l8 g3 o# n" [1 O" Cmedical schools.8 g$ b8 ?! D3 H; p' r. J
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
6 o: r" F7 N, j- S, K& hgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
. J2 R! X7 Z* v9 q8 d E" {to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
/ {+ l& O+ z+ q# }5 eassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
) l& Q# ]0 k7 U/ C/ s7 j0 O1 Zis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
, a) Q/ B) C7 r! eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There8 K' A- J6 M- F+ `
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
" X9 k+ k$ b$ I2 \6 y' Vmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* I2 i4 ~/ K+ i5 H4 e' Lshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: @0 C2 g* b& _8 w$ hsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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; F. c4 t: }, C" j) K- }The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no q( i7 O, y5 T5 M+ A
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 `1 A3 _' S# D
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people- M0 e8 ]" n7 d8 G
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good( \( b. U9 |2 J2 p
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
2 ]! ^7 \+ O- r7 k: `% _sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 \6 C, G% b- [/ a( z4 u
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 c& @0 c! U. V$ V& e% aDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: x( u7 b m8 z4 X$ w3 ~. Ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
( ~/ a7 n3 J" f2 m! Z- k7 i' e" zcharge the fee defined by the state.7 a3 x5 H7 Y; s; t+ T
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* V8 \) B$ d6 y( \3 T7 w8 p# ]on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
2 j; k. b" ?, D% Oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big8 E6 H0 ^9 ]0 s( o8 s2 e% k/ R
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
- K: U( l+ B/ }1 \. Nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
5 g; x1 L0 P- C: y, }4 x: N& Aworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
1 ~% r z+ ^, D- _2 r1 s% Tschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if. X6 X$ O. J) E8 Q9 T1 |: y- b- M
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
, M$ H F: ]# Mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
+ i/ I' c; W: X) R5 khiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- j# k+ f) l m$ u
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
/ A! ~: u9 x+ cto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
% Z0 F$ N& U8 L( M5 P8 |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, p; O4 t( P7 }/ ?& M/ g
are spaces.
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& ?" o) Y! M6 EThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 [& B6 a; z8 F/ V) }- Hto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they! N4 q% {# U" k4 \/ N
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the$ K! ^) w' S# F3 v8 v" [
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 }1 D Z; j7 U4 k! }
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
/ g( L, q0 v- l4 n# cbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
. ]/ o3 \8 r1 h$ M0 znice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
; z6 d6 z$ ~3 y8 `% Y& i5 ^2 Icar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it. W( m. p2 @* q5 i+ e& @
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
, i: p U; W$ p5 G+ L We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
