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
X+ z. x) F2 g) \3 R. B5 m) bstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went9 o1 ]) Q! m" l6 i
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
* m3 B$ T$ w/ R5 k# W3 W"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
4 j6 B; Q# L+ k% X9 |3 q4 f$ uanswers to our pointed questions.
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0 @6 O) G9 y7 @, e1 R2 g7 `, r' c1 kThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: k4 _, x, f0 d! `% p
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand3 U8 W$ x( m e F' R
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 U7 P- d' F; [3 cfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. }# @: z4 r$ a/ Z# I2 n
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
7 O2 J/ n, ?/ g$ R4 m2 j# wmedical schools./ |4 D" V' W% z, K
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% r A s& ~* A) {" i$ \6 n
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 d* p$ v) o) N$ W" z- }+ }$ ]
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
2 s: |! _9 t$ S6 e. w6 _assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! G* B$ I/ ^: Sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
1 V' J- B3 Z7 F) a8 N3 O: Yover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
9 c( v5 X4 X8 \ K1 d; F5 Qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
% g& q. F% C$ j% }1 }8 M d( Ymostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk$ }7 L: u8 g$ U: ]9 |! [4 t+ F
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some w c/ r) n7 s
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! ?( U/ e6 b! G2 i V' n2 R
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no! A) k& T& ?8 C- p1 G/ v
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 [# O$ Q( P+ z' q
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 R- f( A4 d: i* D! u* J* G9 Q
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
' j6 m! u6 j: Y+ d6 n0 }& H9 Nthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# X0 Z; V/ M' q5 y0 }sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
. y( v0 ]$ D9 `. a& [; m+ n) }$ ldivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years., ~. b6 U& x, w$ e) S$ f
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When+ \- U; e7 ] K7 I1 @* ]
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& S* F8 k- t; E6 m, {; C: d- y' b9 U xcharge the fee defined by the state.0 P; @; Q4 ~4 O4 ~
/ ]+ i* H8 P8 U: @There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get! S6 K) i* I- k2 h3 I3 T/ i" c
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type5 J6 C* n. d; p3 z6 O
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 J! l$ D8 Y! J
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel5 o$ R/ b) j+ A
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
7 {* ~: V8 B( l/ F0 Y- nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
% J! O4 l# n& s" j5 g0 Rschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
w, I6 F& s! g( S: Wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people# @) d5 n/ P& C+ X
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
3 D/ [. x' }, k* A* o) [3 uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that, E! p; o5 W: d3 s; K
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want% g' m( v) u( {- P1 L, S
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
- o0 u A2 K/ Ebuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% @5 Y* ^, q. x" o4 L
are spaces.
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0 o& C9 K! c: c4 }4 ?+ ~7 x( vThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 z" x r1 X E5 z! q
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they/ l3 d2 G/ U5 Z+ ]4 k
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the; M* e) y$ S$ y! [, Y' j
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
7 @7 Y5 q8 F/ n! E& h7 {parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
: L: W$ Z& f, F4 a7 I' obest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 e' y4 M. g L: L& r9 ?
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 Y* B& B4 r+ C# s6 V: l
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it. ]1 h2 f; O1 @" F# I
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned./ @# Z* p) V; d; w- o
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
