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; N! G _8 [' {* [
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went, ~5 s+ g9 ~* ^& X
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# ~ v9 N0 B3 ` [7 d"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give; \+ p4 j% y& w( x" ^6 u! d: N
answers to our pointed questions.
0 T+ q7 r( L* }! B+ D: S% O# d2 {7 {' n/ e1 K) i2 {& u
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
7 M' N# s3 i" ^45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
4 ]& w/ n- [) N# v# tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ R: n5 b# w1 P' d" [+ O" a% Z, b
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ u/ d; H4 [7 N) V Pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 _3 B% }/ w' `, f9 e5 Y6 \
medical schools.+ f5 T9 I5 |6 M+ F
$ [7 g3 i$ a- I1 xEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the8 [, W5 O4 r' V; X& |! n4 j
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants; h' T, W# g3 t' L: Q v
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% C# h7 v0 c! R
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba7 J. l% R- X0 G, U& A
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) ~% p# G7 |; N" i3 R5 T6 O
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
1 ]# J# _2 d9 a D* u5 Fseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
( } |# h/ K# gmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) D- H. B, [! D1 v+ L
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some. M+ ^0 W4 S9 K& D6 K+ C5 B t8 ~! t$ V
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
4 x- Y4 G, b/ e! ]# j7 c' B8 M: w8 V( G) L, ]8 Z. Z& I
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
: \6 q- g- t4 e! G) Y3 u, Hprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
+ r6 Z8 C* u* S) {$ _- }supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
8 ]% _4 |/ E1 C2 shave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
5 F9 q! V8 P2 c2 d* E+ {( w$ uthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% n6 V6 k+ J. W! H |- b V. Q! gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high/ s7 [& o9 \/ X/ D2 H, h, h
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 d% P5 p4 F3 R2 N/ H9 _8 c$ XDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When) w) F/ T4 {( W. B& a9 Y3 c/ [
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 ~1 x |$ q* c$ L; J
charge the fee defined by the state.
8 I5 o$ N: a+ h8 a. N" P: f% M# R# L& b8 G6 ^+ {, Q- C
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% h$ G+ _9 w* F1 g8 p, B/ Pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
4 z3 O# J7 w" Pof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# Z9 M+ R/ h, J' {& j2 W
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
# R$ q0 Y) `1 w/ a8 k( X U. fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
4 Z J! o) b& F8 S \2 kworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on- d; K; r9 \5 n* C* t. `; m
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
" W% P7 x0 g* L/ uyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
; G# v7 ?6 k. `trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! h* M% j5 k h! C0 f1 @
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 B( W$ V4 F* G/ Fpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 U2 m$ W) g! p- d7 @8 M" cto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
5 ^; X1 W# U$ vbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
# _5 l1 x) D/ S7 U3 ~* f0 [9 Rare spaces.3 `2 S7 n7 k6 l: ^1 ^* a5 _
% n. K. G5 e/ N) k* R9 t
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ w0 I) ^2 H5 w; x
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they" R# y5 n; f- p* D
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& w( |! x/ m- r- _2 t% } \40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
9 Z7 ~/ G; O1 H5 B. z' lparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! h) ^) g2 R- g2 Z# M/ D
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
+ L {4 r9 r1 ^5 j* v. \8 i' wnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
3 q* [ S# \- J: Q2 acar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
% G1 x* G- b; j6 \0 J) Pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
2 k- J! F5 G* A$ k- E3 j+ ? We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
