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
* e* n# @0 O% w6 u& y# b/ Ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
7 f# d% C1 G$ t4 Y+ `9 von a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,# z6 G/ z; d' _5 c
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! I4 ]9 Q) y) s! R) _
answers to our pointed questions.
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) [9 k+ A& t0 L2 xThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ F" \2 }$ {/ e, _* l& T45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
& |5 |$ d6 P7 [5 L' X1 \% N$ Aout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
' V: R. S, ] m$ Jfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 U8 U1 g5 }) v. ?. N2 B
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( e4 h' d0 C4 j1 S# l
medical schools. \7 _4 Z, R" U- f7 S8 m/ e& H
8 S5 I3 U: Q3 d* QEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the9 b% K7 i3 G) P1 w; w- D
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants. ?$ v, b+ o: H
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 {1 g$ m) k3 B0 t
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
8 ^3 L5 \ m% K$ f2 tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
+ ^" L8 _! k! k% `' u% @, xover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
3 h: Y. V6 w* h. [seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and- X4 v, ?* I5 s1 J
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk3 [1 y" [: x3 r1 D; E
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some0 V' j# |# n: B$ C) G/ A
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.. l' E; A& Q/ x+ D( i7 }5 T# N
" V/ ^; L, t$ K# CThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no' W9 G3 X6 G: d8 j* V
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: y+ O& Q* S' P( X- t1 G
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people: ?3 h q! C. P+ I
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
# v" J+ h) y8 ]thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby% z, E' I7 q; L3 b
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high% y+ R3 `; x. v( i1 q0 _
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; H5 B" f e) x. `Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 u4 M3 I! d& X9 fa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( H% {- Q8 Y) X2 @" i8 {$ {8 {, w
charge the fee defined by the state.
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2 H4 @8 n$ l9 Y1 E0 o8 [6 P; P0 G$ GThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# u% u4 k" Q! D8 N& T& R9 T
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type/ d! c" d2 }4 u- d" h, v1 h
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
0 J9 d! l% X2 O6 Q' ttruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 c/ X& Q2 _, q* m; P5 J" H' k
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
: |& I: Y& J6 y1 f* i" j& k9 x: L* @working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, G: d. j- [/ K" O' ischedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if6 {' X2 S2 p4 n
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
+ _8 Q5 I2 @- j. gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch& m# a" K2 U+ R: b4 I7 g& r
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
/ |* k5 S* b* A. R9 ~# \# Q1 k: B. Qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want3 P3 g! }" d) m7 a2 a2 X" O8 S7 l
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
3 c1 M/ P/ q0 ?7 \+ _6 Jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: P g* r3 b6 ]are spaces.7 q* x' h" A& m! Y
2 g" F1 J5 B2 J2 v5 Y2 oThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi# b8 p7 g; F3 t; C' k
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
6 R: c7 t3 w, d# rown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ D) k! j, D/ w5 J40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; X4 Y+ P) E# T* m
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
2 d0 E6 O- l8 H6 w/ ^. Qbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 e8 S+ ?* g5 S) ^" R
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
7 [) ^8 ^3 g2 z- q9 Zcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 Q+ v4 z3 e' n" @& q m: h
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.. g) u1 V" j, ^
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
