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! m/ V2 S9 L2 F7 L) ?# ~. n
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ y/ I: R4 r: a. G% y8 z1 @: zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: m) z5 `. |) B7 w
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
, T. g8 p6 [3 k" M- v) w' f" a8 ^answers to our pointed questions.5 S) u+ }! R) ]& a: m/ i5 V# j7 Y: n
" a, m$ l( b# l. L. d
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 T8 {1 S2 R% _
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
1 V# w9 x/ D0 Qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
# e) \. N, ]& I. R2 qfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams: w) g6 Z3 s. k+ Z. U) w
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are3 T8 M, F% F* w! W5 [# @
medical schools.
, f* C: U# ?2 ^- A5 _- n! S* O& u' I$ y6 O
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the/ m; c d: Y* n& i$ ?1 v/ \3 j
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
. M* S, s0 t3 G5 t1 Fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years& o, q8 a2 q$ D0 ?; K7 j/ A
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
( W; K+ _2 n, X$ I7 Q8 mis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 g; E( ^9 k4 e* F8 r$ V& q/ e
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There6 |9 V8 q# c+ s+ L
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and8 [( ?& D ^2 E# q# _. L
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) ]% X7 o% |% _2 f
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 T. S5 E2 {( L: T5 ]$ |9 G0 G
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.; y# ?2 h" G1 F) y$ u
- P8 D- n8 W+ J9 L& U$ D; f
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no4 k$ m# j* [/ q5 X" w# m% l4 I# T
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
1 s7 l6 b3 f" o2 Hsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
* E7 z9 {/ Y2 H! W: d# w) Nhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
. P( |6 N! i- I/ K; J; L! `thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
) P2 s# I/ S/ Isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high" H6 R3 i, m4 l. b) a
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
1 Y3 e8 k8 ~: a) ~* o7 SDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When% P" x* E. y# p, J) o
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ Z+ K; O7 m7 F# q4 f: Tcharge the fee defined by the state.
0 r( A. r1 K" `; e; P# W
! c2 J) U4 G& X+ gThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" Y+ S" @1 F% ton), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ C" W% c( x; ]/ J) Hof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ G" `, O1 O6 ^- |
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# t. i9 G( n3 n( [: f5 h$ n' ^5 O5 z7 {
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
8 U; Y9 p9 I9 _: [working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
+ r2 o' t' d: O5 d! u" W1 Yschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
, n( l( W5 Y# syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
; F7 H$ _' [1 O7 B! m% A7 Mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
0 f! S$ E7 q& C. j: K |5 q4 w7 j( w1 Uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that! N% h$ e6 m9 K# v4 i x
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want+ c' B, B7 e- @$ x2 p( }
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
+ o8 G$ }/ F7 v& d5 s! |/ tbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there' P. R* `3 C9 D9 y% Z
are spaces.
* R" g- ?* \- N4 w) }. s+ r! j2 Q; X
+ c- S6 `7 x; N, F vThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ ?# O) W0 h, w# A" Q
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) l, L4 I1 F( p Sown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the3 k. n9 o2 _9 x9 X
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
* f: f) ~( @7 J# Y! oparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the# N3 ?, O* w6 v8 u1 z
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; n! y7 {2 V/ g- |% x# a
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ E1 v) ]0 Z3 w; F
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
' I) N! I0 c; S" dis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& m3 K- ^% u& c9 x' h: \! N0 n5 A, M
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
