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% h# ?$ k1 X) h/ a* O. @# b' W+ ^9 {
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ m& Q- h* {2 Y5 Q% _on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 L' b P; O% Z g9 h3 ~
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
. j# C& w; u) H7 }" \" n& b4 U1 ganswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 {8 h- h! G1 E$ ~
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
* }) @; q! m- g0 D! Wout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
# s/ Y! K0 [1 i% K T6 Cfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams; [0 @: B8 K% ^; Q
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: `4 [6 P0 r9 D" g8 x& @2 l# B$ } O
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the& ~: ~4 ]% {# v' v' J
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants% q& ?* V/ a' v/ j* m
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
1 c3 l* I; b( G& J, Zassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba+ L& a5 ^) t% H( y0 h9 |
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to1 Z* u3 Q2 w/ s. b% t
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There2 R$ C8 o& l# u. W5 i9 B* {
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and$ u* x/ V* Z' t9 p
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk, |) f. R( [% ~- _+ O$ i
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: c) e) e8 \, N. i4 xsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.% }, X4 k6 o$ \' a) c7 C2 F3 @# @
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
" s) l/ L, H, g0 k# }% i# z2 Kprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
0 v, Z" ?% E4 Y5 l4 b8 Jsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( D! v/ {8 D/ G' S& R1 z3 thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 Z2 u7 p- J7 ]3 x: l
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby; u- S8 |: @' W- y! I" G1 J
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high+ W! F5 K; i7 _/ j* j5 F8 G$ Y y
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
/ d1 Z1 T8 \7 }0 n0 ^3 ~ f: o5 [ VDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! ]: c6 Y, V& ~$ H0 l- ?6 Ga lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
7 |5 L# {% u. u/ _" Dcharge the fee defined by the state.
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1 b. }' y: I! S& V3 y% gThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
2 _# Y3 D- Y7 gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! L8 n: O2 w3 ` }of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. G3 w1 a& f5 ]: I( Xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
) X5 d( w) h6 Y% x! k% hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
0 t, [' O. N& Oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on9 R* X* |# J( Z) @. K2 P. T
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if( W0 @9 ]/ S9 p1 y" ]6 K" l
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
% v: c" C9 j! q4 i5 O+ itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 v3 D! ~' g* i- Z( a
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that( g3 [) s/ n+ R6 R
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) d# I3 L0 f2 w2 |( e Y7 E+ N/ w: p4 Ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
. W1 _8 U0 J. ~4 r) v, [buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there/ F6 D6 Y/ b E
are spaces.
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! j: U5 ^0 r8 G M# @1 ~There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi. d: ]: e2 S8 f' i, b
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
0 @5 u4 Z- A. d7 f: c5 m1 Jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' A% Z" f" s$ U5 ]
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different- P" [7 u4 ^% Q) d6 I& \
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 d* `/ R9 T$ S: r& x; {6 j9 ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few+ D/ W- e' h5 t' w
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of, H) i2 R$ b+ Z) `$ Y; K
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- {6 b9 U6 Z" s2 ]6 i
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
( L8 K; }1 Q- a3 D) O( I We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
