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
$ C& z- U6 ^- r! V0 Kstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
2 d. {8 t, O; [. A: b( q+ j+ Zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' g" l* j4 w7 ^5 K( B1 b
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 N6 K% \2 n3 }4 ^: F( r4 a
answers to our pointed questions.
# M4 ?6 g' l( K& I3 {7 ?6 E: A: G
6 ?+ j0 e- m8 c, `# |The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ K9 [: n+ T l6 N& x, L# J( P
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
- s( b0 ~' ]6 w _9 \out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
5 t* W4 n5 {: K( a3 v ~free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams& V( z* P4 j5 I6 M7 v2 y
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are% v( h* B8 P! c C1 P& m: n8 O
medical schools./ D7 F( X3 H; f' J) S w" f
( o5 H3 J- d( `4 X u- j
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% k2 H' ^+ N3 l: h
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 m" Q- s* @9 u: u
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, k+ @. x% I# v( e; C, K1 d
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba3 s* s( y9 f6 t. A4 E+ c
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) Q; \; o O* [: e! p
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There) t$ x3 S0 `4 w
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
# B: x, h/ P' n( wmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk% I% Y6 T" n e. ~+ a& y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some. e) M% r. T2 {; I- V) J/ M
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.- G. o# i! m4 R$ v0 A
$ e# q4 V+ |" [- Z% jThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
5 e' U; g: i+ o" c9 u7 v" `private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
. g" B0 z8 n6 Z: usupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
' {" H; A4 |6 o% {, N; `0 {5 khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
6 ]& A ^; K9 w% A% [7 A3 M$ W1 nthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
h/ }2 v/ S( ]% Z: e7 D( ]sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& I6 A. Y$ B; I: \0 a, w
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
7 e1 E/ i3 J$ N! I6 ?9 yDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 c& P1 j8 T7 o4 {7 V
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only0 c2 D5 U% A( K! t& q7 D& j
charge the fee defined by the state.2 i& o4 p1 H7 j( V' j' v7 _
+ N: @ f7 Y/ }1 R
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
# V. A- o/ Q$ T1 ]# ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ s: u) V+ e# P0 R1 e2 u$ hof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
2 y) D; D [1 i; r$ ]$ dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel* ^) x7 d4 \ b0 [4 z7 H+ U- K9 N
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the+ B$ w1 k- Y( E! S5 H' z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on* K# @8 i1 b! }2 s- \ n9 T- e& p1 `
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: _" q$ L+ s; F p" a
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
& B0 I5 N9 e: D5 F: H5 Y3 ~trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch& Q% ]" }7 _; F: }0 _
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that0 @5 E0 k: O& \
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
3 ^1 `3 a% O. w9 K. ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
/ j$ H8 ^4 [! @! k6 h( F! Qbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# c0 Z+ Y c8 p0 z1 a! j; n' X! ^
are spaces.2 \2 N/ T' B: `1 _9 k& _
! m% k3 O" y- e0 [There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; E9 g3 P M, E/ Y" h
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they" o& D, {4 M7 L9 x/ @, z
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
7 M1 X B3 G4 J7 S s3 X4 |40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
6 ?& T; c8 } L D; _/ s- dparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" N. z! W+ ^' s) x& t, s- Q
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few( }! s8 G! f% q( J, w7 k
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
, ]$ e& ` d9 e5 [9 ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
9 G% k: y! ?7 \ N. His a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! Z' _" ?# z+ m* r( x
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
