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
# H: [- H* O. b. F; zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went3 {, O; O4 Z& z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
; W) K, g" t% f3 ~"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
5 c8 X8 n# H: ^% O5 t$ V% Qanswers to our pointed questions.0 h% f* ]# @, X: G9 z1 V
, k9 H/ g/ J2 A, H+ _7 p8 H; L1 w( RThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. l3 J" w, O4 D a0 C: p3 y
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# e/ \4 B6 k" L% c, p
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is. Y `2 q0 ]. n) g9 R2 l& M0 U, k
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams C# g, C9 E- Y" p5 e
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& M! t& d+ P5 |! d& P- V! |1 r% {medical schools.- n: w6 v+ X4 b4 `2 v( B8 I& N
8 _/ i* L4 B9 EEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the3 }$ H, _, Y7 ?0 b+ [
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants# a+ ?( f4 u9 B0 s+ e* a3 `
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) I$ ]& h% A9 S- @/ U! lassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
/ J' c# ~) _+ c$ N* Uis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
) S$ _ p3 i V" iover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There2 g# H# v. g) }* \1 Z
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# i& z7 s5 S- G% ~
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk; x5 Y7 C( S) f K8 `
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
0 C+ x r1 `4 o F- O% N' wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# c0 y* q) P& c3 h: g
9 W. n5 D! |& F* IThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 p$ w) v' c5 h5 R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, M8 l# f) G/ A a6 [" ]
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' Z: ` u, A% r- q* U L, C; Y7 x
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good' v% t5 t. w+ C- u) U7 }
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
9 h$ I+ M9 w! X% n. I4 e$ csitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 a) G- F5 T7 Q3 [$ p$ K
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years." q, l& O+ {2 n; L' t# u
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When+ h0 a& b( w0 T0 Z# R' a
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* K& A$ E8 t9 i! F
charge the fee defined by the state.
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0 f, |8 ? d7 q& u0 ^There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
/ r) {6 _* r7 t \' hon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
; v- }: n. |( {! [of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! n, l/ s& |( ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
3 O5 _7 ?, g* Tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" h$ O) G" F. G7 O, V- s7 dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; A% n, y" [& n0 w% T. U
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if6 T3 k5 z2 v0 F3 P* R* @
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
, D% S1 O4 r: Q' Y# \trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% z. y; a- b( e5 O) n: c+ Yhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
; p. j/ J' F1 E. ~5 W2 s6 c: F+ Fpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 U/ b, y- C# z9 t2 ?9 G- H1 Cto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
$ {8 M3 I0 p$ P& q6 i Ibuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 o: j2 H" z+ D6 {8 @
are spaces.
+ f- A, b1 `- U3 I7 P; h( M! Y% N
+ ~5 g9 Q `8 q, Z0 H. qThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
$ ~% B# o9 F F6 B% h$ xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' G3 Q5 \2 M$ j; S$ ?own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& j! e$ w- A+ z, T# X. m" h' }1 J
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different+ a% R9 ?- y2 p6 Q" `( \
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the8 \. x3 [, T- i w1 p: b+ u
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few4 y& S& O2 z# r% ~
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of8 j# Q7 V r4 U( Z- {
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
+ e' b% R. I5 H6 Iis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., O) m) H, c5 N T9 i. y, n+ f0 K
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
