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
9 l+ K# q) t( ?# @9 Ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ f' v' D" P% n! @5 con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
, O5 ?4 }' b/ M3 G1 q6 {"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ b6 E( b6 t) n# B* D# E0 H
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,/ b% ~6 \. U' C+ }9 w
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand2 d9 Z3 V% m L9 E5 p5 B* P$ @: g6 h
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
, Q; g7 n: o; o. |) [* ^( G1 lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 r) x- R. O! w! h0 i$ F7 F
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
6 o' I, m ^% d& i! d$ Pmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* q% v$ i, \/ R6 z6 ?government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants k1 T7 N3 W" J$ B0 f$ E
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# _5 m2 r/ _0 c$ o3 w, {
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
5 O- ^: {: a& K$ Bis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to9 O( s) S" g5 |# {+ }: L" Y
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
2 Y+ A( k+ e3 N7 b; d8 G2 E# oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
! D/ s- Z5 O4 _9 z$ W. G; vmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk1 s8 C$ f( U7 j
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some: G6 H3 O: F$ K1 c
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
$ U( p& q8 x1 g! h; X7 Bprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; w0 k1 y! h5 _$ `3 ]: z. C" Xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
m% ]7 t4 p* K( w/ X" w p& }: e2 [have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
9 { e0 b+ n) A xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby. u3 R) W5 q( l9 Z$ C; A$ v# p
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high# u3 U+ b+ T! D# A4 g5 U
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.. A' V. E3 {& _0 |/ g. a
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! M% b; v3 r9 d% g& k* D4 R5 Na lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
! N/ h3 p) a {& M) wcharge the fee defined by the state.' i. V% j+ e j
6 R; H- @% a0 r* F0 MThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get7 K# \/ M0 n& i# W$ ?4 o) ~
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
6 q$ M% q3 [& d/ p) J* bof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: M, o. ~9 q5 G5 k( xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
* {+ Y. P6 s' Aseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
9 d! c. l. N/ v. D: i+ ~working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on- k, D1 ^8 G" `9 }5 }. t
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 b2 [$ e C+ c* O4 @. o; Z7 @
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people6 J' v$ Y/ ?( X) [
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! @5 M- r X, Z0 V9 C+ s& P/ Chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that* l1 t6 y: _2 A6 I3 j; n) M6 D
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
- U0 T& ^- p# d* K2 vto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or+ K8 a( L6 k2 G+ S1 I l
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
, }& ?3 [& I, Y& h$ I" G* l4 Dare spaces.+ H: u1 W! w/ l9 J( v( C+ q" m
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi' \4 H! a, L# W9 E, ^
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
- \) s9 k* ?$ jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
9 V! `3 |6 l" v- X3 D2 d, Z( L, b( ]0 l& q40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
6 ]$ Q U8 m5 b" G5 K N7 yparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
% c$ w) m1 U7 g0 Q' C9 S& X5 wbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
! g1 U, p% i, K& t7 A+ vnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of% z9 |" D5 a8 e2 S) j9 U- g+ R
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it6 s! V3 x% U$ L# b6 `% R/ Y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
' a% u" Y! o& K6 B# u7 y6 e We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
