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
# n. E, G4 s |1 Y [1 B5 B# Zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- s. E$ a6 C6 i. G
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,. g+ H" D9 c8 X2 ~, I
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) {0 N8 B' t$ x& P5 O) l
answers to our pointed questions.' z; n4 e, ?& w& K& M6 t
+ D- M. I$ Q& u. R0 R; [The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
: K8 `5 `* a7 w% j45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
+ O( u- Y# ?) G5 |, aout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% r! s; Y) z3 c1 ^
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. }, L( L( @/ J( C# ]( H! V3 qto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
, H1 V f# T3 y3 z. Imedical schools./ r2 U, y& k7 c M; f% K( K# g
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
. q8 m9 W4 l( F# s* V! q; W, W. Rgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants5 Z% K+ Q; }- `1 Y I: F
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
% }* G, c/ W( {& qassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ ^' D- W9 F( q# r
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to4 E5 A7 X9 S) Z( F, s- W
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 H4 ]7 [3 Y5 e
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
$ y$ s6 A4 `$ T! [mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: ^1 U+ T% h. B) k w' b. \. i
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
% p5 n4 i5 A' l" N* G$ m* o+ u4 @sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.9 I! ~- o( @# V9 k) w* f
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
4 u/ W9 Z. l) k/ Dprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and8 v! @: W6 q7 j2 O7 f# P; N! v" d, [5 r
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) l9 T: Q% n: Xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good, q& b8 m" o+ o$ v! a: }0 J
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# F6 \0 j) r5 V/ N1 H5 `2 u
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: @5 G) P6 b* V$ L4 G# w) F$ ^5 `3 f. A
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. A" x: D/ \7 a3 l k% B6 C' i+ L$ U
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
" z I- n& M" c s8 h8 _( A* la lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 J" C p, b Z) [
charge the fee defined by the state.
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: z0 E; Q$ x# s, zThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get. P+ [+ b% i" f c- o, m: b
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type5 X; @ S5 u* o k0 |2 x. P
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
9 h' V9 b2 M$ h! D2 [# m8 [2 otruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel4 y+ w/ A8 `% h- e8 y# N0 {
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the n1 g. l. X4 l7 {% z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
6 q1 \$ d$ k5 D4 X$ Lschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
6 G; d2 H" o7 w! p; G# E$ @ R0 Zyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
) A+ c- h" I9 Z( Xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
' W; [( d# x: Chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that. y3 y" ], q1 ~5 X9 ~8 e
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want3 z& j. g/ n0 s- g3 k0 a1 U/ G
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! D/ n2 M5 E4 |: Y9 b0 O
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
1 J4 {0 g1 m( C+ qare spaces.% l1 C. C6 V: L( y$ F
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
8 H7 L. r& q6 V2 uto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
6 z5 R- U! n2 ?5 ~; \" O4 kown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the1 v7 R3 V/ u4 j( B+ p
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different- w! i7 Z: c) Y( C, z
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the9 C7 V4 D. q* x0 V$ f4 R9 s
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% w+ ]+ |, W4 w2 F/ I- p# O
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
7 _; F0 z t Y8 Z( s' t# zcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
8 Z9 q6 V5 C( @" f+ ]' yis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
' J3 C+ r! a9 c% q% D& M- A( J We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
