我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living2 Y! v! x% o$ t1 a5 H- I* N% [
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
% A. p8 ^8 ?1 C" X* [& V' ~' S: J% don a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
- ~5 r: F0 `7 E7 y"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give$ E( q- }6 ?) Y( Q6 ?* a
answers to our pointed questions.4 H! m+ ?+ Q! w7 A' R
; Y- U% w. E+ n$ x( q! sThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( x0 q n! r3 `
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 s& C$ P" @8 P8 a `: w( w
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
2 L$ j( y/ t8 y) y& Pfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
8 l, b, {4 S# \) a8 fto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are6 Y( _! h7 |- m% I! m$ V
medical schools.
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3 ]- C+ `% R* C$ C$ C5 ~5 W3 `Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the$ c9 N( A, p5 M- f9 T/ S) f& S
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
! X8 e. `5 m9 G0 Hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years5 o0 F( m! S4 j- L9 P* d% @
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba' V) v6 [ F& ~" a. p0 b
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
0 m% J+ D6 N% ?4 Qover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
/ h# P$ }$ C% }; H( k# C- _seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' |. R% z* y' D
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# m3 ]0 E: e/ Q
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
4 _+ q- }- l6 T/ y! Asugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 `/ N! ~# _) p" V
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
+ p) z# b( T: K0 c/ fprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ Y4 ^. h2 ?9 H/ b0 F6 ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 M- o' @+ x+ W+ u, y
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
7 R! O2 _; ]# C6 W) o1 Y: A! `thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
8 u O8 I. J* `4 `* M4 `sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
" [% N2 Z, Y- i7 tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
" E1 F7 y8 j% s1 d$ i) f8 MDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 x( a& y0 N4 i5 m2 S, ^
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only2 C. ]! `4 g6 _/ V# \0 H
charge the fee defined by the state.. r P/ }0 _+ I1 l# ?4 V( r0 ?
6 s- h7 V- ]: ^$ z8 YThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get. s! q; u- X" M- q$ N. c
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
# [6 _, J) A {3 w S# D; [of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
# V+ ^5 d# C9 o5 E: Jtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 ~0 o4 v9 q1 S- z, U g! }7 J
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
+ m$ S6 m0 X7 M( E) O M/ Vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
0 O* {1 b! F3 T: x W7 bschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- Q# O2 H* H) Q
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people( q [% ~7 D' H1 k" X
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! x) T; V/ F0 x4 k3 ?hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% Y z2 l' s& t' \( W3 apeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want# y" {) I! |4 ~8 }( b
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) x2 Y: `1 `) b8 L) V
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
, I0 D% k7 F4 n$ J, pare spaces.9 }; @% U3 R) p+ t# c2 r: v
) g4 w/ ?) y+ L# w
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
1 q- G/ e% Y7 {* _" O9 @/ M! l* Vto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
" F2 U- U7 i6 [9 R# Jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" X7 d6 {1 Z* t" z+ u6 W
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
4 h1 q; A& u7 E! E% hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the( B$ J E/ Y' x+ N% A; w/ K' W3 P
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few9 A1 p) S5 ^8 O; E" [
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of a4 P' l4 \' o- `
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ ^- T0 @/ s; [7 d3 x, u
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.4 {) x: t Y4 ]* V/ C* W
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
