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
% y. k- }( O" l! |/ Qstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 \0 k. F c" F. Q& ~' N' V) u
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
+ b2 ^) j+ F( o9 _! u$ E1 E"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: K0 Q3 r: J8 [1 r) k4 J7 lanswers to our pointed questions.$ f) H& O% `$ u! c5 o2 X) Q
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 q6 v0 x. ?" I! z6 F/ R1 ?# q45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
1 ?" B ?, |. ?& m9 bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
5 Q; D7 b2 L' i o4 b1 \7 ~ ?4 {- Rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
# r% c2 {9 M& m* q. Nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 y7 ?# U+ b: e/ O& |# s$ P* Z$ S8 i* \
medical schools.' H, Y/ {1 B& J% A) T
0 { W9 M/ A+ _' ?0 QEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 d! M8 C. H; e# u2 r- a+ i
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ P! O6 z5 ?% e' f" r6 l9 Rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 }3 p/ B% F- B2 H2 h
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 F9 m7 L4 {, w6 \# m" I2 H, X
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
* }: z+ G; B. H( Lover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
5 ^2 c( ?8 i+ c- Jseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& K& g* q# B' W0 U
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk K: r* j% Y% U7 s2 [' \
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some, f- B- z4 g& q1 S8 ?4 P% x
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no1 Y+ \! W) _2 Z) Z% `
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# c3 h+ |: l# N' M# z- h
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! Z9 t6 c7 |# V, k) a! Ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
* ?8 x, r' P5 V3 qthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby8 z9 h" s# _6 C/ Y
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
" J( U: y' u! v# G) u+ Udivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% V) s2 V/ {& O
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 L0 P7 n- @' ^- p
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 o" n! i% Y% d3 q
charge the fee defined by the state.* g* w; ?# i+ R9 `: N" W d
; x6 H2 R. U, G) l6 n, u: n' X6 dThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get2 O0 s$ D; w) z* K. G
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type$ q+ p$ F$ p: L4 d, y5 m
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ _7 W+ J8 f$ Z' P! R% _, O
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
, {4 V% ]5 w: F" ?3 Mseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the) h6 I1 S, O- H4 R k2 z3 r
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on. @+ i1 l% L+ ]4 @+ q
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 X# Z5 d6 ?- P# ~! _
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
% a$ b: c2 Z6 u2 d' Btrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch5 c8 f5 \3 J( Q2 E5 @: _' j
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that! M# @+ g& q `6 F2 I& r" Z4 u7 l
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) w* Q! D) i% N: A* N7 d
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 H- Y) j F- R% \
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there X9 b) J$ @8 D+ q+ q
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 n* K' C! t3 o) j2 C" u2 d
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they. F+ r! U9 _- {" @
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
% V& _' I' l5 b$ K* u: A40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
# d0 d. j6 [6 J4 I C4 r+ {% z) ?3 }parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
+ B; m E& |& G' G& J3 ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
) `# @9 I2 ?$ G y! S4 b P( z1 hnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
1 {! {$ l$ {4 |6 Mcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 B3 ]3 l. W) z3 {' Mis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
* X, C/ s/ p* f4 u! b# x9 r We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
