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
4 O: K2 ~# |2 L& W4 ^" O& c. Cstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
) _# ?5 ^4 p7 K/ c0 R! d% n3 ` B' |. D) k) {on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
. O/ E8 K$ F. [5 x& G+ j, j' `7 x"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
4 T% C/ [ V- W6 a3 F0 j0 Panswers to our pointed questions.! H* J$ I& L4 J: G5 O9 M/ M# s, u
! {1 x9 x) d$ D+ RThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
! c# A5 n, d) y0 w9 @5 c$ P45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. o* j5 M, m% |0 `# J9 P& a1 k" Z* ~
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is: k0 g) G( n8 N) g8 _4 R Q. L2 ]
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. g% P6 |* i9 k% qto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
/ W: \& _: Z6 k* Bmedical schools.
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* x3 R0 X2 t4 m) [( eEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: c/ B; Y8 K" o) k7 Vgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
* p6 \! t; w/ t7 u7 X+ fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
* z( g6 q1 z4 p- U4 k8 kassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ S, T; V8 D' K% _% ?( {
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 \9 m4 W, y! D
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! N$ c9 Z6 i& q& \% L; ^" Lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
# } a# ?7 S: S# rmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( |7 i8 t8 T4 s( w3 ^$ R
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
1 w5 h, [8 d; M! psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands." w) T; p. [2 ]" |: U
' D# i+ T J9 p$ Q6 C) j ^The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
7 V+ X1 o3 ?& j+ F# W$ T9 ~6 x vprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. K) q- g! h( _3 I, s8 `5 @
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people% {; Y$ @1 ~( k. m/ [
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ P, a) Z" G. H" [ ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby- F7 N/ n) _3 m3 z' y; a4 H
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 w: g% ^& {0 A. E- b
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
/ g( e2 b+ r. ?# L, E hDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! R8 m2 [7 G& d% Oa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: y. n# Y0 [; W9 q
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 x2 X" Y: N/ z5 ^2 i4 a8 i
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type2 K: r6 H6 }7 S; u, o$ E
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
8 h% o V& f2 w3 [# C; I4 |- C/ @truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
0 Y9 r; {0 L8 @% l Oseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the4 C, z! W2 S- T& M" @3 q
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
! T( o2 H: B1 U0 Y3 u8 [schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if+ o# O# M W8 J9 `
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people9 W6 P' S0 I5 |2 q0 J& S
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch4 I8 j! E* P0 V3 m
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
' r0 N" R# k( O- Wpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" D3 a5 z( M6 i5 X8 P# C2 rto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 k6 Z5 o' J; a! U4 ~: k
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
, I& y% S8 B& A$ ^( Iare spaces.
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( t3 y% y' L! @+ a# c' V" q4 XThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi* @0 N. e; h g
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they! J7 N- [# ]1 T, h* D9 i
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the( r$ k9 s3 [ b x9 | X
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, P0 J0 H$ o# R1 o& I2 \9 ^parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the# v4 ~" t( B ^$ y5 r8 V4 d
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few, X9 t. t( R4 t+ j( c7 |
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ r8 u1 ~, T" |+ P5 ]: j9 [
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 D; W% c4 m* r- H3 E7 @$ Y/ C
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
& n) p% |3 L4 v& G3 ]- ?1 x We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
