我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living3 H& O) W2 ]; m3 `+ d
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
: g, w5 b6 A& }( O2 O' Zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
^1 l% r- V# P& n"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: B' ?: Q5 \: A
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ u' T6 c8 U5 Y8 [# M/ \0 D! c7 p. c7 Z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
, \1 j3 _9 e9 H' xout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
2 t3 m0 r1 \6 |# `+ i% wfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
2 n7 m* g& O' \, v- |1 r6 u* ^to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 L( |$ ~ z1 |! M Fmedical schools.. B! m" n& A) e& s& T7 p5 c
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
3 L0 ]5 z% x @3 k1 h$ Mgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 K8 b) E5 {5 Y/ b, y; t
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
( s+ M5 o( k" wassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
' z6 ~* m2 C4 b) z/ O$ }is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. U9 s$ d! y; K @* \. a
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
% W' ~& U" A) z0 \. aseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 X+ z. j/ n2 i6 b
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
7 n, _9 `/ g3 |4 V& a4 G! @shortage which the government is addressing by converting some/ ~3 L0 j( p. E
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# S/ ]3 ?. {4 [
. ]" j) A# u9 s; rThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
* @# t( F( B' z9 ?private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- n' X# \ O& G( l) P
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people% c$ f I% B4 {& n0 q1 G
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 Q9 n# f5 j7 Y7 K, F
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
: B0 a0 H2 e4 _0 K0 ]. Fsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 b$ z5 Q t, n8 Qdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
4 K' k. ~; w1 uDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: U# s4 z( a( [( X: ^( K
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. B# N# R- N% n! c0 M0 Z4 \
charge the fee defined by the state.
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, b( q2 R) b) }& W2 F+ y$ wThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
8 p% Y% N1 ~2 p& Z9 L9 zon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type( z# ]+ Z# q m
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 c+ y6 P( P3 k2 S0 atruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel$ Y" Q1 _& r# R) X: r% q
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the7 F1 S. T6 { E; ~: v
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
0 ]( b+ G a4 |' [ kschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if6 X, ], p1 W6 F0 Y
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. F7 i- C# _1 m8 V/ ptrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
5 Y0 e$ |4 _" {6 W2 O1 ^hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
2 F' O( {3 q g$ k* @( H! ypeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 ~* u! ~( X3 c' S' q
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
$ p, e% B) J0 [0 [" N: [buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
( B8 N2 T5 N9 m0 t( mare spaces.
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/ {. X9 F" ?& U! {" [9 B, w' p' WThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi' N& @4 s+ W& ]! ^) E" H) @2 c% s
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 ]# g8 g' M* P
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 ?5 h+ B& p5 \6 m8 [ o& c9 P
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ N4 {% W, ]- z$ {# |! \( H
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 N4 t! ^4 z# V5 k& ]best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
$ R: a X" V2 Q- P W: v% C* \3 inice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
" e6 O" T( I+ j) ?. ycar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 X7 t2 O0 ~3 R7 e1 k! w" o
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
. B/ D$ W* @' D4 W& B0 ~* L We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
