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
8 P# K" q& Q1 y' ~$ ]' y6 Rstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
$ w! X0 W, A! R, r7 }: ]. yon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,& O1 k* a" A/ N% }
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
1 @) D! z+ e! [/ g" Sanswers to our pointed questions.
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& [7 B3 ]( c8 q9 Y+ d. RThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,# f1 A/ h' S$ q9 _8 H
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand0 C# l; m% I1 w$ y6 O- k, S7 }
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
% K! ~( E0 D5 B* ]) w# |$ F( C& P. @* ofree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams! [# g/ `4 l# p1 V& z& y9 v% Y7 Z
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
0 x# D' f4 I4 Y. ?# |1 Cmedical schools.- ~3 B% E! `0 i, m
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the, d5 Y7 ]* @2 @4 A z( K$ I5 r# S
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants) L' ^& I; h2 U: r
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
2 A; o- {2 B2 {4 K* d# m+ Uassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba F4 K5 `) y4 i6 n6 q
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to/ g# h+ Y# ^. T9 Y
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There; G5 i i) b' o) ?4 J- }
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
) N- f9 \6 Q8 Q S! V- Bmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
% P) o) O: F9 R x$ k$ M) Pshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
% x+ \, O' p. g1 F% H9 w9 i/ psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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$ Y$ u# t$ ^* ]7 {0 J2 u6 {4 ]The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no d0 k" O( p, X. ^8 i t) G/ |9 d
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
+ h) a' _- _$ B& Z0 lsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 h0 I8 n: G$ j' ?) N
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
* ]- w$ q9 g% ]4 f$ u* ]! x5 Rthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
- N. O* P& j+ J2 U+ W7 R. b7 ?sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; R- H4 L# V4 J" [2 j8 Odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.; {1 u0 y. u# i9 G; [# u* g5 l0 |2 I
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! [# J6 Q3 ]7 F0 M& s$ p8 z. La lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) Z; i+ w. E* K p4 v
charge the fee defined by the state.; f9 X K' i0 T8 x& p7 T1 r3 P
$ G3 z0 l: Z0 z7 k# UThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, w7 z# I {/ t6 ?: O9 ^on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 g' r7 `, V. f$ j4 ?! Y
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 h1 I7 g* E7 ^4 Q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
. r: Y1 w; n) ?3 d+ g. dseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the, N4 s& f! `+ F" U% ?: D
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: u8 F/ n' R- }+ D( U+ ischedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
) h1 L: e! _) O4 P+ \' Uyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. Z2 a2 m& a' J1 y' }2 Vtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch* V3 [8 P- D9 A1 |$ \* O5 x
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that: T9 w6 Q& `3 J/ b
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( U, [ I V8 C$ Y. Y/ R! q. yto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 ~9 {+ o" t# q9 B+ K4 }& ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
4 Y& V" r# _* `8 C! M) k. Rare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
v" M+ N& ]3 L9 j4 T7 C, uto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they( f; \* Q/ R: j3 X+ |
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 `5 V- h: ~; @5 |- r7 d" V40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
* U$ p, c m* K6 Mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
5 o" K T7 x& c' Ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& f, C4 w" X$ }, ?' I3 o5 E
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
3 h4 @0 x1 Z+ b4 T( B# Kcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 v$ J0 S6 U( Z& X2 ~8 U0 mis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
, s% {0 P8 i+ [* R We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
