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' @, D6 E( ?1 j4 i, H
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% \% S5 s) P* w/ }4 S3 E, o
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,8 Z0 {5 F4 |; x0 H
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give7 e! l( X* \: T4 b6 {8 T8 p9 S
answers to our pointed questions.
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2 K" O; }8 Y1 P8 p+ [0 E8 qThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,% R* b- C+ s! ~0 N! [
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand7 K- e+ ^+ L* ~' d# B: d
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is" q0 e: m$ Z3 {# T# v
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams I' g3 e9 `% n' e3 X2 r
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are8 k- D* a/ V3 e2 U/ ^) y. R4 E
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 b2 J3 W3 |9 i, E7 I# |
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
* U; p$ k' Q- k* X: W5 h) i" yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
% T" X: m/ Y8 o& M4 T5 Uassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 Y) W4 ~' N2 I# C$ M
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to, H5 D% l8 Z) v5 a/ z. S0 d
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There4 F, `! y! K- d
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 k: T0 L9 M5 X- O6 C# ]8 D( E8 A
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 F5 z3 u. l$ O
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) x! X/ y5 a' u; p& ]( c ksugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.: c# G# h0 ?0 x) |2 {$ k
1 N& C5 M$ z* J# g4 d" r. ^* K8 rThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 K G8 O1 H4 p' f6 x
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 Z" w" q9 J) y8 g8 }
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
1 i6 F3 g9 K1 j4 T/ D* chave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 m# O; I2 D5 }7 L
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
, ~! R) h# q) W, x% Nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high% {- B2 \/ u, z. A
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
O& } u* B+ q! T' R UDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
1 l7 A7 w. b9 r, T2 ba lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 u/ B& t# L- I) c) u F
charge the fee defined by the state./ \- b8 k7 d- z- q1 @* _3 a
1 {8 R- I0 Z/ O, X7 [" NThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
1 E. U9 z8 X/ P j- r, uon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type5 c; w- j4 o6 K) Q2 x
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: }1 f$ t; |& T* k5 O, w9 u* Gtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel3 _2 O8 _5 c" u1 D- o! p7 Y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
+ G9 R3 P* ^9 G! H9 o& z( r2 z ^working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
0 X5 V. N. r3 n9 M6 \schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
. f4 m' Q" x9 Q5 z7 t1 Xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people! ^) O, A& s. C# _9 F+ G( C$ W
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
4 C1 C* O" L8 Ihiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
' D. |% l* }8 H" O* V' b: epeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 Y" e* A9 \7 S% A
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
5 Q& W) e; A1 E; z/ l; n" D+ i5 bbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there3 ~7 g5 ]! r' _' Q
are spaces.
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2 s* P& A$ l3 T+ [" l7 wThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
3 S0 R3 F: r/ t4 H4 Y. Lto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 X- G4 T+ b e, ?9 R
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ k" l) L* G' R& |40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* r8 p: g% K% m9 G6 R2 j$ H* O) V
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
* k s: b) \$ v! ?6 Rbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few7 V5 f+ x1 g3 ^
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 L3 }2 s7 a3 \! l
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 V3 @1 G) K' Xis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& d& P3 Z; [# k m, q3 N+ u7 e
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
