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
+ ]6 m: {" ^* H0 Hstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
7 \+ W9 Z6 \ O4 [9 B% {/ lon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,9 @ H" ~& h$ u8 ~) s2 r4 m
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" b$ _! n$ _* m
answers to our pointed questions.
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) _5 H. |- f8 q% a4 u& }/ U; h! ~The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,6 I5 D7 ^1 f- Q( ? w$ q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 O$ `, x/ N7 u- F- K; a; i" e
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is1 ?' v9 x& h$ B. s0 K; X8 d
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
0 a/ Z; N1 C3 b: |. ~4 w: }to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: h* m7 T, o6 M; ?2 _ S1 Dmedical schools.
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! p8 w$ z& z+ `Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
/ G6 M4 `7 ?3 ]1 igovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 P, J; j6 M0 z3 [
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
: c0 d/ d$ D) T$ b* Sassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
1 I% R2 t7 @. L5 Y ~is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; u- D9 S% U+ Z- g
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
4 A3 |/ r: j* \( N' o' g/ g7 @3 mseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and/ N% p! v) Z8 l$ F: r0 [% S
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" K0 `: _6 K7 J. r: B+ B
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 S: t6 h# i! ^; b" P) k; `
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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8 f5 V. }, }* n8 {7 s/ I% OThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no8 I% s) o) i( d( R7 I
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
6 Z& x, M8 V; q' X& @: l. }/ f0 Ssupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people( O5 `9 J# m1 I
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
( b" R9 _+ a2 b4 _thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby6 L/ H. `) j9 Q, g
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
- X- M5 F, E2 ~* Q1 T3 ?+ sdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
& p" {' |* w8 z; e6 e7 iDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When) Z8 V, W2 E ^ A8 d& u6 |
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
; d0 {3 U/ Q1 ~# H" I0 d+ ccharge the fee defined by the state.
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m4 J; `( }5 c3 j( C0 nThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
- Y4 I' s+ L+ [& g9 ]& }on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type% c c2 |* J% p: V, E5 g: k
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- y1 e- g: G* ?* H8 }1 }3 v5 ]1 Itruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, ~. d+ U1 Q: J. H
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
' B3 M$ I. ~" J: U: z( e2 R6 o3 vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
* K( e0 W) }" Uschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if* ~* P9 J6 m3 D. y2 i
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people1 ^/ N* s# b& k0 H& d
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* c2 J0 M& ~6 J' e+ k5 Dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
$ B/ F% [4 }, v+ f! speople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) Y5 x! U' S8 |/ _' W, A+ p
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% Z0 }3 b# e* J. }; y" F5 t* n2 G
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% {0 X" `5 {9 |1 }6 H2 N; {# k
are spaces.
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( n6 ^2 \, x6 ], H/ BThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi3 B" J, W, E, c
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
7 E9 t5 _5 b' R+ t- e/ W7 L- L1 E8 Q2 mown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
. B9 P1 ~9 w; l1 F& t40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 |+ y1 b( P0 c7 c! N
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" i# n( s6 Q3 w4 I) N, u1 e( ]
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
$ U; |/ W$ u% j; \8 h; mnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of- A+ v9 `8 H1 R: w# B6 n5 h7 @3 v
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it1 E, g- c N2 J2 C$ f( m
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
5 w7 s; _4 M& B) ?. M `! t+ t We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
