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% O5 q+ F1 q6 h) A! I' [
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
' e& {+ x, L3 G- Con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,8 @& c. h. I/ o
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
% m3 M( ]! T' @! J1 d& L7 E1 Banswers to our pointed questions.7 C+ `0 K- Z0 s4 C! }$ G* j
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
0 A4 a. g9 z- P; h" ~/ N45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand0 Y6 U& D% k" z! f0 E
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
$ ?9 ^; V% J0 I9 y& A( _free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% ~- q8 o7 H0 Q% q( U3 t) I* z
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
W/ }3 z6 O" D, s( t3 a; \( E/ Bmedical schools.- r, Z: V* F) g+ ]
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
( a3 d* |2 K6 |; ogovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants+ L7 g0 k6 a# m* I' w. ?. L
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( F2 T ]: T9 S# d* \
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba( U) E# V% q( a7 H1 m2 W. h
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
" ?5 } y9 D2 lover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
& R/ v L, c8 [( N4 jseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and* ]- U( N0 C5 X/ {
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk2 x5 R8 X- U' q! z' V6 l$ U [
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 b$ P2 A" e M+ P5 ^0 Isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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. Y9 L) x* j/ G$ ?; {0 v5 h0 {/ pThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( m0 A9 e& K. ]/ n( `% Z [% o! yprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. C3 D* f! K+ D& g6 j
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people: L% m; G) v: Y
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
5 a- a% v0 o, g; p+ G7 O, n5 qthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 i7 h9 I! d- ~sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high1 K! X- e% v% j/ c. G
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. Z& V& n" t$ O& O
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
7 _) \9 |( F* ua lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only5 ?) Z% y4 r0 f- S1 v& h
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
9 O* h* Y9 w S- U& Mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
* ]( |. k/ ]/ N3 \% l) kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 t2 D' @8 ?0 }5 d0 E; h
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. p- s- J5 L+ J- q7 h1 @
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
: h* C7 D# a R4 B) L: b& w+ s/ tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
3 B, I9 t: U d6 A! u& Y# \# Qschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- `+ ]0 }2 w% B* | J
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people# m0 x/ q% E' c0 ^8 E2 _
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch$ [$ G5 M# g! x+ m9 f2 f N4 v
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that! U' {' S4 g% s" H0 I% j
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want; W" y8 t6 m9 w+ Q' U" ], F, s+ a5 c
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 v9 d, `7 C6 L" @2 ]6 l1 L1 M
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
, a) M: o$ q0 l4 T7 ?are spaces.
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F1 C/ J# {' NThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: w- g; l" e, Z6 ?9 @6 V0 M
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they: ^) C2 K1 w ]" e
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
8 s1 u3 f# L* o g% X( m; K40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' L, ?4 q0 B* m% o! _' x |
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) k; u0 ?" O* t$ l0 _* i: s
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few. z8 ^+ ?% U+ `$ n$ b! e
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of8 [( @1 f) }6 H n& C2 M [! y
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
L" c: }# R c" t; C. T6 Ais a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
7 k/ ]% l4 Q6 Z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
