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
$ S! \+ T$ I6 ?7 D( d) [; h3 K: Istandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went5 d) t c7 k. c! f. j
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
) o6 N4 L0 G: a2 p"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give2 T/ w, I8 q W+ Z+ _ Q' e# Y3 b
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: T) L' o0 M1 E. I4 J2 ]" w
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
i/ a$ U z/ u- \ R. Eout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 ~9 s1 t4 f, Z5 t, L+ k1 @
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" B* X( N7 `% a# O3 @" ?
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
7 t) f X2 n. ?6 E! U+ Lmedical schools.8 b7 v4 e5 |- y& I' Q0 ]
5 n( F' x _" _6 v! D' _+ a" `& } zEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
7 z5 `( g1 W- C- \7 w" igovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants6 x7 _ Q. Q0 _, \
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- a6 x- b: B) D! j- H, Q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba r# S# W+ W- |6 R; t3 d2 A: Y- X
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to c- M l+ c8 P8 Z
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' K2 J* W/ |* `- ^
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 a* ^, |4 X) F. w- a, K/ s- X4 K
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# g, N- d: K- G$ g4 k. j! d
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some) X3 v/ E! n( q* G) W+ F' ~
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no. g2 d9 i. d* R0 h0 I
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 G+ U- f# z! o9 Q$ W' w
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
3 h* C' B* d( R% shave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good1 X( j; L' ]2 r1 Z/ W
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* ~+ \/ W8 M: J! Y* z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high/ o4 P0 ^. D- j2 l! z8 d( G! A
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.; F$ s1 f: j" p+ v+ \; W o% ^
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
- r5 v) j p( N- M' ]: C ?a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: \# |; o; z! y: u- l& V
charge the fee defined by the state.* G' T. R4 G! w3 U c& O
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
; ?/ V7 U l; }3 z. d5 h. G! `2 Y; Aon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type. h7 P! b; ?/ p! s
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big J. o5 Z( J! A! O3 k+ G% t
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel2 Y! I5 N$ s0 k; V3 t$ r
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the. M( w- d6 M7 j6 M
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 f+ p" o$ U& ]
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! ^) n; f9 V1 T- A/ A0 v$ g
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
) I a9 ?# R2 ]+ ~trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
- a# n M C8 r' m9 N, _3 thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- B: m4 ]5 }4 Q( c: @0 C& W6 i
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want& _# t; r# ~, Z' g+ [
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
+ H+ L4 u# B' G8 a. ?buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
3 x3 S, E% v% u7 ?are spaces.. o% q( e! p1 v
; `& Q( b3 j! [5 B5 H. d8 fThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, {* Z% t' ]$ D/ z/ I4 f4 v
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& U* G$ r8 y" g' t. P7 \8 G
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the: L# e# k2 j! E+ D% P! B0 K- h
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 C/ _% S6 o1 |( F/ h# I2 r/ ^
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the' {; L1 i5 C" K, f. p8 h
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% {5 `8 @2 j6 O3 x2 e8 H: i M& R, K
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 t/ l- h# [2 o- d! q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ [5 _0 T4 n% z; I
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned./ J# A: ~! i& o# R# }
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
