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( N: ?/ x# x% p" i# u( ]' A
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went# n h, e- s' `2 a, f; h2 f
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
8 k* u6 a7 _7 L( L9 \"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give; F; }! P% a: A; O" v
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 w# Z Q$ K. J% S; B9 d6 A& \* f
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* c7 P" l, m* S/ i2 w
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- Z) }' ]" D2 ~+ V1 h1 S4 V
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 m3 s% S+ q6 X
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" J" U3 l$ P5 \- V+ V) a: mmedical schools.4 e& A' d) R C7 s
4 l5 ]7 `8 }' X3 j: bEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
) K7 v8 _' M% S' }government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants7 q. I4 F Z. Y4 T* M; v
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years' n& m1 K4 |3 I/ K. a* [
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba. ~) C8 a" X3 c! k! V. C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
9 {5 P- ?, J, [) r5 _" Eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There6 a1 U0 G1 S+ W* j! } v
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
, F$ t; n+ n z7 x% u5 |mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
+ ~- @, X3 ~3 K1 b; }shortage which the government is addressing by converting some: H& L5 H0 l9 F, Y9 y: E! e: y. K! n
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
7 R+ B, ]' ]. H. h6 W3 Nprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and2 ]+ f- q; N" u& y7 }/ |
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
8 \: a& b0 U! g3 ]) [have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
- I2 ~3 `$ j8 J+ U! {, T' gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ U' q$ o+ a; S7 i8 O7 F1 O7 v
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. Q5 T8 q: V3 S2 M2 O1 g
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; U$ \( x0 X8 Q4 ?& UDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
3 H- |! W; h H, ]) Xa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
0 T, a4 P2 z1 I9 J, _7 {charge the fee defined by the state.
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+ S) m3 k- C- S1 ~There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
; i" Z: G: |, n6 R/ Don), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
& p4 F# q9 A- V" L$ tof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ n4 i. h8 |+ W5 d" Ltruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, C5 F1 T/ l8 j& B0 w
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the5 t# z8 `1 k7 R, Q) R
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: ^3 K7 `$ d2 t: u: _8 t8 X1 ?- g b
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' X0 |5 w, o+ N7 `+ ?- V) g: Myou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people( y9 x( }0 i/ j( v
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
+ F7 ~9 ?! G3 ?7 [% h6 O. }hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
- g# |. c' u+ H1 c* R Bpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" Q3 A6 h5 i2 C4 @
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or/ y8 M# ~% b w4 P; K
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
u( O: a6 n5 ^8 [) X8 H7 o2 oare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi* e6 c( z* b: R( g5 n, k
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# b# \* z9 G; Q* @ P- k5 y3 Uown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& q' c) s1 v4 {( n# D40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different. W4 |1 w1 p" x
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 k8 M! X- |" K
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
. k, ?2 {/ j! u! ~nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
3 J0 ~1 q3 h9 w0 R; C1 \4 _! Jcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ m' z# G! C6 A- m1 O* R
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.; r! D+ f, T' x2 W/ \. v/ m
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
