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% t' R; x; L& o. L9 G: G2 l- c
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 ~* Q" b, s/ ~# j9 h* D4 ~9 [4 `$ @. hon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,) R% M$ z* ]! p( y; M
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
. a, L3 U% R# a" \, Qanswers to our pointed questions.: ?" }7 K2 A! k! y
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
& I3 ? e7 f$ s; |$ q) V3 @45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand+ s2 x, Y4 e: I! V
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ ^: L6 T0 @7 M4 h. N8 A8 Q
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. ]% Z- q/ p( A& uto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; |# U: r3 Z7 i: P; E4 Q* I* qmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
" | k5 n: C- t9 r. E7 Ugovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 ?5 t- A, d9 [% R
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
- K! \* C6 I/ M; y Tassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; S0 q8 n w- D5 Gis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ Q2 U' K! M: Nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There; S% _# W5 Q! N
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 G: P% i, T# M7 L' D r
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- s$ k% c. D$ w+ E4 N9 K
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
# P% e4 x( F1 e2 H6 Osugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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+ J s1 U# W5 r! b8 ^The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
- h% m4 P# |+ t; A# ?# A7 gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
& [# W y( [) i& Z/ h6 j+ ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! t# s/ o, V# c
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
# X& L) F5 ~# f, U% l- \; Ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby; Y; M; M1 ^: D9 W: y# Z5 P, }
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, m' W5 ]! y- P' q; odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
0 {8 O( H) I! N2 r- `9 p( KDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 d5 I6 K4 q8 A: t# y+ G- }. w9 a1 \a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
. J5 R0 E& P+ f" G9 rcharge the fee defined by the state.
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- m/ U Z0 m, j& X3 J/ UThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: _: B9 f9 {, `3 Con), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
2 i. e. Q; t# i+ vof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- ~7 M( Y5 K T+ @ J# J
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# S' O! z' t- a3 Z+ x( ]: S
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 A% y7 a8 U: Q
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on1 p N* `" ~7 W* g8 w' a
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! s( {0 g- x; E' W0 @0 A4 t
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ p: b$ o! C3 G6 Z. Y, Z3 A
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch* f9 q% U. E/ ?& k" D
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" F' H5 R/ {4 F( K# u. l# h4 xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
- k+ {( P/ L) bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
4 U) h. @0 l x8 m) rbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) t6 a5 w: s3 @ Z. ^are spaces.0 S' x! J- @6 J2 G u; u
: w1 G& {! P$ V7 J9 G6 }There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
; e; z8 k' a* Hto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* h# {+ T3 O; X, g
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the2 v8 u# Q( O" [8 Y/ i
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different, k) G9 S1 Q7 d, K. `9 v* |
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the+ ~. _, |! O0 O4 v6 K
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& T% r: l6 E9 S0 y: R" c
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
, Q5 B/ s7 S, {car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it7 B' J9 ? w0 w& g4 W# s9 `9 |; ?
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
4 C2 R: u7 x: X0 Z# R+ M: w1 P+ _ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
