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
/ A9 b- @6 E3 N$ h1 D+ B5 q$ `standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 ~- |! H: j+ C3 @6 E
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
4 T% G6 }0 S- U3 p0 t"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! ]2 c. ?; M; T; w! s8 oanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
, }( ` j9 A w45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
& G" |9 \1 p! J Y* Wout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ x, G5 K7 g& J a( M
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
2 `& ~- u! K: _1 `* b3 d+ Y8 _to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 u( [! N4 Q+ S, R, s+ n, }medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the& |' N) s$ h% c4 `$ \
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants7 U q' l/ m: a$ c9 \
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
/ X2 |( h' z# l- F9 n9 aassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba1 K# ]- L8 a$ M3 e8 Q" S
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to$ l! ^. s% q9 Q- y# \6 J1 ~
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% w5 F" i6 c! o' s
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
8 R0 `) i9 G, b: o4 B/ P% Z; ?mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
6 j' b7 E+ } E, S6 j8 K( X* Vshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, I# y" R7 O; ?; c& d; Q5 nsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
/ @0 C5 y5 c y0 ^5 x/ ?private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; ]4 @0 Y" g7 _- Esupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
+ K) |% y5 s+ S( t8 I" g1 \have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good! l2 C2 {/ {! K/ g3 i9 m
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
( _- _0 G, |4 P! e' d4 D" o0 q4 |sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
. ~& P5 F/ f1 W, [3 r2 I' wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. |, ]; x$ ] z1 i- h7 U
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
e l) e/ b* T$ R2 D% k1 d. ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
. s+ I0 a o) g& G& x$ H* z( qcharge the fee defined by the state.
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3 X) N% r1 e/ KThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, U/ S$ u ]" _7 i6 k: yon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ S3 U6 w* C% K+ S# A+ r
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. w% G( w/ X- a! etruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
' ]: x1 q' ^7 t5 A& `! d( l! eseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# ?3 Q1 a' g7 R% Q2 K) ]
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on3 |9 w3 f0 a) X7 }" ^! F
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
1 E9 a% l; ?/ Z) ^' Zyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 ?# w, t' B2 P* g- _6 @. y; Y, Gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
' y0 T8 z0 G7 A0 x" b) J+ Ahiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
' U; j6 r c8 z/ X" d8 o4 ppeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
9 M( S8 w7 u1 e5 Mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' o" E. @6 O$ Q! H9 K0 D2 pbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
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8 u8 B5 D) [6 ^( I+ GThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( U) }! y6 ]6 ~3 h0 N% Z9 z* V0 i& Z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they, ~. X! w+ Q. ~$ ?: Y& p4 D
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the# A! R T9 S3 B7 k2 J3 Q
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; W$ L/ P$ I0 I4 o
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 D# z6 o8 A& l. m* ^best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! f1 d2 |+ c+ p V5 p
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of, q* |) p) |% Z# A- |6 V
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) M/ K |8 y, Zis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.; [! I4 W) @+ L6 {. V7 y2 ]8 x
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
