我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living2 c9 T: h& C- E
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
) A. a, _6 P# |) c: Aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,/ E1 a/ [0 Q. I- o; l( f/ R
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give k) q1 b9 p7 |
answers to our pointed questions.
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$ l% j9 `4 I3 N6 FThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
+ v* f4 Z C2 H* L4 b45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand" W: K: H9 y" j( a" |
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 l( w% @9 P6 d+ D6 M Wfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams- k# l6 U8 r- o- F8 z, o+ A# p
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 a5 X9 ]" C& ?# }4 k
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
" H. B2 G, W& Mgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
7 n8 r" l' \, G' e: G; k7 d5 }9 V1 Rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ ]# P/ A# H* n
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba* M7 P4 C6 o4 [9 J$ l
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. T6 ^ _. w6 a5 ?
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, I" v2 z" s7 |! j
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
; b7 R. H, V7 ?3 l; k" I! D6 |7 D! omostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk; v7 ]2 y8 X. M8 B
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, `. W3 B) H9 ?8 Rsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
' N7 Y- H5 R. I5 ^3 S% ^private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and; t: h9 V: A( H
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) M* {* ]9 Q; v9 n3 a% D" Ahave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good; [9 H0 U& g$ E7 P! Q& X
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
: F" C/ l' [2 b' Lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& z( A# R7 `% Odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
4 w8 `% n' I# G& d, l( }Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
& O5 A& j* t! v+ `; R* o$ t; T. P2 _a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 H$ A) o6 ]# M9 Z) p# S7 I' W
charge the fee defined by the state./ N7 C9 V; ~* O8 v
m) u! F8 s$ f' ~
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get5 O4 U% ~3 Q# \" g
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type/ N# X* u/ B( i M: O7 e
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big2 J" f- H8 K6 G& [( Z5 o
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, ~1 V2 K5 \5 V7 J
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% ^: S& b" s! T" b4 dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on7 ], f! t2 c2 B- q
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if) V$ L: ^. F' |. H( R g8 ~6 X Q
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people7 X8 u1 g8 B/ r4 p5 E/ Y
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
; m; ]! n8 Q7 D6 M" ~hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 Y) F4 h- q, u) U0 d5 t! w
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
, @/ O! G6 P4 d( r% [to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
5 ~# f. l( A/ I3 r$ z) |* Kbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, j' A& F4 s0 t, [
are spaces.
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/ ]. h: V9 B& ZThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; D$ o8 s0 u5 i$ ~6 z- ?, R
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they0 [. J& L2 X) P7 h7 Q2 S
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
1 A, M8 P+ o, L3 R; s$ e40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
! T- h( V9 E. `* r! z/ r3 {parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
" h6 r5 b$ p3 k) ^best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few9 P6 Q* I0 U9 m/ [" h/ n- A h% r
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
! O) L3 u+ ^1 C! Z! [car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& T6 \8 L5 G+ P2 T! i ~
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
! T' X+ |0 j' a% C7 z* A5 y+ m We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
