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/ B8 F, z" k# m; @4 Q
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went' W( h/ i/ b+ c" X3 Y3 M. J
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
$ ]# `/ h) A, `2 ["George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give$ I5 C a$ z) D* N8 W! w/ W7 h
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
% x% L$ G# Q7 Z; j9 C45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand& `4 S5 d0 W$ q& U3 E7 {! v
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is m6 J# R- }( u! [
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( n9 o! v" m* ~5 Y
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
0 A$ Z0 l$ A7 p1 u+ Nmedical schools.' o. w1 p- s, J- \0 ]
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" {3 _7 W3 u) @, c \7 A+ D4 `2 _
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! x1 A( o( a Z
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 ^( n* n* _( J+ Q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- a! O+ L9 M7 u) t1 {
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! n, Y9 |) c1 N% M
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
$ b2 u7 W+ W6 o( u. a' ]' qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 _4 A. a O2 {, D- @- p! ~" M
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
) o, J/ V; c) d; Lshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
# ?1 w7 P6 ?: y& \sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
& x" b+ I# z+ a: gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, C! P. |6 c5 @ _: ?1 F# m% ?+ q6 ~
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
$ f6 |) s' ]5 @" @- Vhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ @' x0 J+ T8 o$ d# M2 D& \! ^thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
0 y. D! [9 d1 K' w" ]sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
* v, v* R0 {! sdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ M# P# k; h7 O8 H/ [; @Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When% }4 C0 T0 Y0 a' c6 x. [- ~
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) C2 M# E' U4 |8 Y5 e( b
charge the fee defined by the state.( m: ]9 ~ R# A) {' j5 F
8 s% O" V& A( z' V4 q5 u& hThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 w- S% f! M% K% j3 E3 [on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! y& k* j1 W1 S1 t7 `of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big+ r5 W% N- r: @# O% N; z
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
8 r" s# g+ v! k2 E! Cseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
/ G7 q# z$ Y! Q: nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
3 p% `8 @7 t6 E5 t# l; Xschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' T4 U F1 `+ ]; k# Myou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people3 t% R( t5 c" O; r! X: F
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( L P$ j+ ]; ?: C
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that3 h O- s1 g% ~+ n0 M; I! v8 u; F
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want7 W( j( ~+ c4 P
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" l4 {' o9 T* F
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there8 U4 V$ b; B. I; a6 e& _6 b
are spaces.
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- a5 U7 ]! \9 U' K0 w" ]7 N8 ~; oThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 r/ H; m/ q- i2 O
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 a' p. [# V( }
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
1 j5 |' f9 s7 l+ F( i) z7 M- t40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
2 O9 e+ t' c, q: |7 Zparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! h( e1 B) N- @1 p9 gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
1 e% u) ]; Y& Y% _9 D: v$ D1 C6 Bnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of' V: I7 h% X# w
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
. _' G- P" k6 t3 v; t4 Nis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- s/ ^# ?* [$ i! s% u3 ^8 T9 f6 D* k
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
