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 [0 }# y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% N; G, X7 e# F( P$ b i3 l! c
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,$ J% d% s! z7 M. }6 Y
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give- p5 _2 V; G0 S& Y1 h7 [$ ^0 b: E
answers to our pointed questions.
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$ J8 g& s2 |5 t& Q J. p Z$ {1 eThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
! _2 E$ V& |, s# n! w0 P45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ c5 U8 \' e. |" b: l; J
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
6 b0 i. Z4 F8 U, afree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 ]% k. R# K: t
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are m$ Q/ }; n Y) ~: J/ U
medical schools.! n, q9 `* x9 d P4 ]8 R
4 U, Q x; ~* vEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
2 Z& r% J, L4 G( ]' Jgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
9 `4 D4 Z$ P2 ^$ ^; hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years0 d* ?6 M2 \9 \0 e" t" Z4 E; B
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- m# P+ } q B" A; e
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 F/ ?0 H$ O* @8 z( O" u0 Jover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
+ s& l7 ~/ U# k- S! L+ u* f8 x+ vseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and; y3 I3 R" f, Q0 X% R. l: y
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk; W, p) V \0 d5 T# r1 y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some( X, q2 B h1 O& P# ^
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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5 `4 L9 X- c$ wThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
) ]- l P, D! |" v7 `& Fprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ q. ]( x6 A. a+ Q3 `8 J$ {- x: y
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
3 O- V4 | i' y# G+ jhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
7 }) K3 U) K0 E: ^* Lthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 t; C) Z0 _" Dsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
- j3 V9 y0 y' t p+ Pdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years., @% h7 u X+ Z, Q
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
6 @/ {! \: a+ ^2 pa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) V T8 Z" R: e, Z
charge the fee defined by the state.3 i+ ~8 E4 D' w+ l
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get& `# q& j# F+ @ E- L9 g+ c5 t; K
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 M: B& E3 D! R! W! ^
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 Q* P& L' o8 ?- L
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
) Y4 [! K% e$ C useems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" |' E2 C( U: \" C* J
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
( r5 T' v& r q- N4 K. M$ Z1 K2 s% dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% i7 K$ K2 {- A" A
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
! i% f' E, _8 [$ _trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ L8 h# u# d2 ^: g: [! _4 q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
( s& [; f ~% D. Speople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
8 f( E: v V+ {5 ` U6 a4 ^0 {: \to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or7 j7 e! S$ S0 |
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
U# ^! V8 A" D9 j8 T2 \/ bare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
* Z# c/ N+ A7 G/ R4 o! R; S$ m, j$ Lto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
, O. e* ?7 \* \- ]) G$ Bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the/ Y" G" z u/ j- x1 ]" P" ~. ~ T9 H
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
2 [0 }. F( a: b# U9 J6 f+ ^parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
% Z3 y0 ^) o% r2 S' ybest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
! x6 v' _6 g- V/ i9 f4 u+ t8 vnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
( \/ k$ [3 e6 j8 m* ^$ O+ `car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
0 L+ _& @8 v- [" p4 Z/ uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.3 _1 N9 d" a. E; `7 C) U# F
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
