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- w1 V' t' ?+ ? b X
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) K+ U# P1 ]% e a' R( Q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 y: o: M" t8 e5 Q6 \6 S"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
/ y1 |' }, T& P8 p5 y9 @( }( Yanswers to our pointed questions.0 r6 J& K, u. f* _$ k
5 J+ |( r$ \+ X+ R0 f$ g# \; D! c
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
- \: m" Q `" L6 b45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
5 u7 c& y- D8 G& f/ U; |out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# c' e! S5 k6 k) V& j
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams8 w4 _. O( |; s+ B# r: O/ _
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are+ y {4 z Q) ?
medical schools., g+ S& e, X: n9 s" o
1 D4 h& ^2 z& F3 AEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the- P7 \$ r7 X! n+ x+ c9 h- p
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& T0 v+ A5 y; r1 b6 K6 z
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
% N4 c# P4 c$ H/ l# fassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, Q! w$ L( H& Ois from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to' @2 @( \5 |0 U. ~3 e! q1 T
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" V q8 H3 h/ T+ [* m- C$ S
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
' P# q2 N5 n( |mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! z7 p. S( u ]7 X4 y Z+ f3 w
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some6 C/ a, [9 `1 X* p1 j# A& _) r3 l4 z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
- ^5 o% }) k6 h' E b) }" u: F% S" \3 g, Y
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no: w$ N3 \8 j v z- q
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- q1 U! C' g. D5 `. I) ~( ~9 g. B6 a7 X
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( a/ L% @2 `; _) [6 {have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 J+ B; a5 W+ |6 o8 W1 k" n. i. h
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ |: S/ f$ J! L9 p2 U& tsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
. _) a6 {! J' Q4 _divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
9 s( V+ l; a# M( L6 [: wDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When5 f! T/ d/ j" ?, y+ B1 ^) k
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) c& V! T q# a% [
charge the fee defined by the state.
4 l2 \/ P+ k! X
) M! i* c* r7 B" V8 i! Q' a+ ]There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get, |' ^& L: t. c, Z
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
) k: S' s6 d3 s y; nof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big, ^& X4 J: I m8 C8 v
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ I1 O7 f& j" j
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
5 U/ Z$ N/ ^) q/ Y8 hworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
. W8 r* T F/ x K. M4 F) ]1 u. p2 W0 ~' nschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: }7 b& q6 N* H, @you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
' n. z4 I; A& v% l3 ~8 P2 R2 jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 d" N3 d3 y& Q2 _ p
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 f* Z( F% f8 S7 s
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
, ]# B6 D0 ~2 M* X( A2 Lto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& v+ z6 G9 Z2 {4 x8 ~buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there5 u- ?+ |9 |8 h% [, G9 [
are spaces.& T; F( O4 N" ?2 @
: v" `% w% H# J( A7 X( W
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 b; k3 ~% M. o0 \& ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
2 i7 J- {& z; c6 @; B; }own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
; r0 r% V% ? N6 V: r* s4 T40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different. B5 u7 O/ c. J7 N& P2 b
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
" T3 o9 d1 P. ~' B5 j( T4 `best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few, G( w+ Z- p; ?. u3 R* ^
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of. x8 m* A% t( y( m6 d
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
# ?# ~/ [+ F: [# n7 uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& K* S A9 _0 _( k; ]* T6 k6 \
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
