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
" R; R. E$ T% K( m1 ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went& G# Q8 t; t0 C- z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
9 q1 i5 r$ {/ C' c' t. z"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
3 i4 K) F' d7 Yanswers to our pointed questions.0 h: ]3 K) m7 l& k0 a
$ ]# q1 O$ l* D. rThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,- T6 ^! }- N/ ? m6 J" t9 x
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 G6 y& s# T9 ^
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
% _" P5 n( t2 h; N& L1 U5 rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
I" f, f' _2 B- v! A( I) O, gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& d) ]! N* [) H$ P4 q# B y
medical schools.# I- `; N% A0 e2 k2 |
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
7 ?9 p# T# u0 hgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& A' d w6 x' ~( Z' m' w9 V( U( L
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
. v) K4 y- o" g* Massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
( c- o0 q, q1 X# m6 qis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 t$ C) I. s! v* v) M
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
9 F3 g6 j! F7 R9 C* iseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
+ s5 W0 A; y0 a; u7 x% {0 wmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 Z5 z3 H7 P& B7 X; M: P" [7 [
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 F5 _5 V3 w) R7 }& `# ~
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
! u$ ?- b% T: Q0 Tprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
" B: M, f+ h1 xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people4 a: M9 X. n( I- _( k( G
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good' H. ~5 d5 Z/ _
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 ]+ e! W3 g$ t6 u( R; p6 v
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
2 c M6 e$ O2 U3 M# m: f8 O- v; L, Jdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
7 I0 B& F5 h, W6 v DDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When q' o, X) u$ v
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only+ V# Y. F$ U- D9 x! F' L5 |1 n8 p
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 M. t4 q) ?! g
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- E7 o! Z( a1 g, b- F
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
9 A7 N! x. n8 n( B9 htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: E" e$ o5 D& s* ?9 |seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: w: W2 s" T8 G6 [
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
/ n1 |* O8 w: R! N/ J3 ]" cschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
c2 H2 a' g' U$ d- ?you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 C: D' ^7 A4 ^* x/ ~- N4 w
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, n. I; Q& g1 b0 w5 W! U! p) a
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that6 {5 \+ N) @) o
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! G" b0 b8 y9 _6 E- fto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
4 g8 c1 W% s8 y1 R( Ebuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
/ t0 p$ R) d# g! N/ P6 Uare spaces.% a0 \0 l, ?, v/ M R9 P! {
' l0 ?9 @4 F% ^2 Y! fThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! u; T0 d8 x7 Y$ \& `to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they; F, ^' v% [2 {& q- W. ^& X
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ A% ~, e- g, x8 T" a/ E40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different h3 K7 w0 y" _1 W5 c) Z. F- O
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
( E- N3 S( M8 k, n( Kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
6 v2 N3 {+ q" A1 Mnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of; a. \! u& B: R( ^
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 m! f* W0 C1 O5 P! t6 i( l
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 y* z4 E$ `7 r y5 H3 B _! ?
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
