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
" ] D {- y! W8 \3 Astandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 ?" n9 W& y O0 Z( _on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, `2 [# e4 [6 z4 L) f6 l
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 A8 a, s1 `! L0 i$ H* Z2 q
answers to our pointed questions.! [: q J4 H& |) W
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; o. w) Y/ f7 N
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
& w* U- C( {5 ?# R7 f( eout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is7 M6 v& Q# I8 j, H' z1 i
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams, \! Z+ ]+ Q' c. z) b
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
/ _" ^$ ^ F/ a/ p' I! {7 Imedical schools.3 W$ c2 \9 h. u' I
4 R2 {# F0 x+ V4 V' Y3 W6 p7 O1 gEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
2 d. b. n% W, D. V8 ?8 f; d. Q( igovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ S8 O+ O, T) L! E' S" V
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) e- ^( H: d) S: X' r* H# F0 massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba' `4 j( D; Q/ o
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to( h$ ?& o1 C e+ l
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
) @, A4 E$ H: t# G, b0 ?seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
$ S1 B1 p/ M. S$ `! N2 @mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk% q. N$ i6 S2 H; k
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some2 [, i# A3 O$ t4 b6 G9 \
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no. S! H* ~& ^, |6 b- B9 R% J
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
% k1 F4 e, R" Lsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people2 V& ^* S9 _) _6 [8 S4 r- |0 K
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
5 f V5 H( [! N, a# v) x; I9 ^thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby) {8 c! q3 X4 a$ y ?3 F
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( G$ [: q2 f* S3 O1 T' m
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 X/ H1 |, Y6 {6 n/ a. u4 fDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 i/ b3 o8 @; ]
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only6 m) L* V7 g' K# D
charge the fee defined by the state.! p, A: }- T/ R, Z) V
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get; \' Z$ ^+ J% x Q7 F
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
' d7 _8 u& c# c) `' F. S0 j5 W xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: }% B/ h# Q" b1 Wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
5 O4 F3 n! w, i: s z/ @4 kseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the% \1 W- r0 G+ g: G( V6 h
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
- ]/ e- m# ^- S s/ K) I% w7 g. }7 qschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if' D) m- p6 \$ {; b7 v* K+ v
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 C9 g6 s7 j9 I# X. h# Y: ntrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# n7 ^. q* t _, f
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 L G" R% a: m/ X
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( @. r5 l# R9 b P- }. Z# s3 [/ oto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
- P9 h1 P. ]1 i2 A7 w" _buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: g; @& R6 I9 L- P, M* m+ Vare spaces.
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, r: @! j" A& ?0 E$ t E+ uThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi- M4 y6 @+ V0 I/ |
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' o0 L8 {1 c6 v2 ~6 rown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
# m" f) [% q3 ^40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different, ]9 T5 N6 e- y/ _7 F+ h
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
( Z/ N6 z7 a S! \3 D; r! bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
I0 f L4 T/ n2 q! Z$ w3 |8 n2 G: Hnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
! s" U: x! P, Z9 k* U8 wcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" r! W! L, c* His a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
' `2 l, U, Q1 N) \2 A3 o' w3 u- p We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
