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
! {4 H$ `# N$ Y/ ^4 r( u1 H$ istandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went$ X# c5 Y$ }/ c! B! j
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
% W1 J( H% u0 ~. E: A' h"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
) k* S7 L. x R1 u0 o2 O! b6 Nanswers to our pointed questions., I# f# p8 \# y* n: w" g/ E- \- N8 t# ~
4 ^, i* R6 g5 f8 [/ q8 JThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,' J$ ~5 T0 ^3 \
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
8 F4 ?8 k5 t; L& |' [out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is/ ]# f0 X2 F8 k" v- F
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% A. `% I0 J2 \0 h, Z0 n' T* {
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are; a1 y- h9 p! V6 C; s2 Q Z) L
medical schools.
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' f; t% S2 L- `0 q2 z3 e; g, q# g3 jEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" @2 v: }0 ]+ h
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
! p, S4 D5 o; k8 T4 J+ y9 s% Fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years* V e1 A6 N: Y$ ^* O
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% M. A+ e$ E7 y6 I/ I$ tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* h# I7 r1 ?; T8 z3 d
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
$ K q+ P8 U- r& U n; P2 fseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 d8 P' r/ O6 @# O, ?
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk i- K3 U7 R1 m1 }! }+ s. n
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
; n# b5 U$ T& w7 w8 @sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
6 B) r* M' g/ U9 jprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
9 x( R/ c% f- b7 B! `supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
# m* t* v) L% X) ~0 x1 d( @have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ N7 C% Y6 {# Y5 T- M
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby1 w* M$ M5 P- |- e v* y. Y" v
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
' p8 g& \0 }: y- sdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; s5 B% D- [% {$ w7 M0 }Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
; D0 B+ \, `+ ~3 |a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% e4 `( E* L+ i- ^6 _ s2 y, Vcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get" k3 ]9 a- y( D4 U9 @
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
' L& O7 Y1 ]" X7 @of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
@, p- H+ K8 v# H1 S- Vtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# d( x/ m' X& u
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' R* O" G1 _! e. k: X
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
2 o K- _+ r: K- G }" o! Hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
( K4 A3 }8 j, e! d" s$ n* dyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
; m* r4 P* m3 `) e9 o6 b! n0 l, ?2 Vtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
. K0 [0 r2 Z! Q3 z" D D0 xhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 e/ l8 \ \/ C: I% p0 r* T5 _- T
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want n6 s; `7 ~# U& x. _9 k
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or+ w$ d. ?- M. M2 c# A/ H/ q2 x. Q
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 z7 J) L% H/ F5 p/ d% Z
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
2 B6 p) W+ U9 {/ E" B2 n- R; S zto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they/ G) B% y8 v7 k/ b* Q3 @0 W
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the1 }+ m! {$ X" i s) s1 D
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' A( r, {. s+ c% ]/ h. c, e' qparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
& E, y" q6 J! G/ y/ o1 ?7 lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few: ~8 ~5 k9 e! z: R, H! [9 V
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of) ]. [/ f2 l% w: h$ Q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it0 A5 \9 }9 z, B/ b- _' F
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.# R0 Y* ^7 V- x3 u$ {' k6 ~
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
