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( A. |/ z5 Q3 a# C; j. K
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 [$ G& X2 p, U6 W2 |4 K$ ~1 ^
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,1 w4 L$ i6 Q( Y/ J
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give \2 H4 c( h) a/ p2 z8 b8 \
answers to our pointed questions.2 g" M' x7 G$ K; A' q
9 A$ ]1 x& B# G9 o
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ l) t, U% d( d- f) x( M45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand E! k& I& H" u' x
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 A( N& ]# U9 Q( B0 F, t
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
9 X; f5 t/ ]; a, q4 T: vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 e0 m8 m! J. m, {
medical schools.; t' j% G+ M& l- T# w0 R* M5 m- c
( U( A* [- n, ~; l9 _( R; \' iEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 F0 g2 S3 X( R
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants# U. t. ?" e' {* L; [
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
7 n4 s* o) S# }3 Massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
/ e# H; E6 [( u/ V9 `' Z; xis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
7 g9 f7 ^6 j# F- ^7 z4 V7 g1 }2 b2 iover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There5 ?' y a- a9 b6 [4 G# [
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and8 K. L" j3 r9 x
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk9 y, [, [: l0 C8 \1 j
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ Q4 M- F1 n0 X% csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 _) ]- e# ]6 Z. p2 t4 H+ L
$ f R+ u3 s) F: t. }) `6 G" \1 aThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
$ J# J# W) d6 {" H/ wprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ A' R; g u2 @
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people* p4 p" \0 O+ y: \* B! d
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
0 w6 l- o) z: }0 N8 i2 K! Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 B' t: `. o) A0 N2 b+ K4 j
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 n* W) ]. _+ W- t
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; r0 U4 l' _% qDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
1 F* l% @6 C! Q2 Za lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 k# @0 u/ J8 D& @2 e# z
charge the fee defined by the state.. K2 [( f h% Y" \) G
7 V' b1 S% [$ N, E$ ?0 t+ T
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 @, `# ]* N* y7 H0 ]+ d$ b: l7 G
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type; |. l; E( K" x g/ H; s2 `
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, ~8 l6 g; e5 z# K) x7 h; @$ ltruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
5 P s: }- h7 nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
8 @( H% n! R8 x3 @/ y9 wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on+ D3 |: W0 k1 F: o% H1 U( z8 [
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% `" v6 a; ^- u; x3 v8 |
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
9 j( }) O7 q. }% G4 [trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& m6 U, x; ?) C" Ohiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
; I3 k! g/ H/ Q9 o% |people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
& p ~6 T7 r. j: D4 w4 jto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or* I. s3 x* F) C" z4 G
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# J7 B# w; a( c% j9 F2 V8 p
are spaces.% h8 e7 S/ }. o# b& @, `3 P
O! z* b: @, ?" {, `1 G |: o/ j
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
' L1 e* t5 G$ H& r2 ~2 v4 z; |) rto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( F/ f# T2 U8 Q: A1 C$ x7 t/ ?1 wown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& Y5 y( P! t7 A( |8 M" C40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* h$ f- L ] r. r, H# Z5 S$ F1 _
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the0 H2 L1 V. v; t6 q
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few7 B$ w* |5 i$ y# I4 M
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ ?1 ^0 `& a: S7 N8 n
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
. ]- d3 ]6 _4 h6 @- z2 c2 g- Uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 { e6 C- U f+ S
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
