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
( I K. E! i0 s; Wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 _8 L4 k: l. ~- k# }# i, W
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 b9 i& @7 [, X
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" i+ {! E7 ?. t: M, _
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,7 Z4 @* x; g) v2 i( q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) X8 B/ B" D: t, j, q- G8 iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ F ?) }+ @ ~1 Cfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ F: q- @% |- |; x/ ?" l( z! p- y
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' q% Y) [( f' ^
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 F8 V6 ^* P7 W( D5 q' Q6 y; i0 F
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
0 U) r, h! _; o" S5 M7 zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years; N3 C( o% `; i
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% T* F {- k1 _: G5 c4 L8 s3 d* His from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
y/ n8 L9 a4 uover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There# b7 E: m" i* @0 y
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
, v8 \) Q3 D. O1 E* ?) ?mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
4 i5 M3 I3 s! Lshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
+ {/ ~$ u$ e9 P2 y1 rsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 w( s: ^/ c( r C
4 C( V$ ]4 X$ H" p4 I7 mThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no4 E+ @( W0 g7 {( I0 b& e+ a1 G1 v6 U6 n0 D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and8 Y+ |- H6 R0 N( w
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people1 b" [- o0 I9 ~2 W& f. K' j6 V n
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ U3 B' q) e b: M2 pthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby9 q: G# W' r$ \; Y! ?
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high" d* d& p8 Z( J/ ~ J' D- b; V
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years." u4 ^* L1 \6 ^) |4 ]& H. A, l
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When% j% F- s2 o1 {: h4 ~
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
1 j, s' ?( E" E8 ?- i/ ?charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get5 W- \+ A" w6 c
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
6 \+ u. d; ]" l( N* O% zof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: F' f7 F1 q" x& z. h5 Xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
( I' O: z# h) |) a$ f$ ^' yseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
, L' |- E( P' B$ }# G, nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on/ k7 R0 O" w3 p r- k
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
- Z$ e' W8 I V* x3 ?4 e3 wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
: p b5 P8 ?6 W0 R+ n+ l. k: F* E. ttrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
. G2 i3 R5 J7 B1 k2 Qhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' f. P0 e& s7 D1 C r+ S P v
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
3 z$ e5 k2 Q6 Qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
6 |* ^2 J7 P# Y0 y* E1 Fbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* x# q7 e9 b2 ~3 `$ G0 R
are spaces.8 Q. x! t, t+ c( A- {# ~2 w' r
; m7 d% |9 P% f& JThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
: n( b& R+ F) w0 [4 Z: W# V* t5 Fto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* S! p. s9 V4 S! Z! j! M% o
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 e" F5 k( Q% W
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
7 Z4 |! r% V2 s* P5 c' Dparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. V! \$ m$ |8 d+ d: \: y! u; J$ K( C
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few: z4 U/ U8 u8 p$ n: N0 o
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 a5 E8 h* m' s0 d
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it. @# \( j& ]2 J4 X" w0 @" w
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
# g# I+ z1 H) Z6 i+ F7 b) z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
