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
$ Q: K9 U) C: H: Estandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went; y, r, M5 i6 c( R0 d f$ O5 L0 {
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
6 z; X5 j6 J: |5 x9 m"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, c$ F# f0 H5 C$ W. l
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,% m1 u! P* ?) r
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand" O: A) }9 y0 f; Y1 K
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
' ^+ O. m4 Y" W! H5 K. b; e8 i( Efree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 U- x6 z8 P& J9 ^: C
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( \/ l- }0 D6 L: @6 I! u0 E( t1 |
medical schools.
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/ m P/ z' Z# cEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' q$ C- G4 {# j+ t
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants; c' E1 ~. m" @9 C3 ^
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, h" j5 D& E8 M$ i. b3 w: g
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
+ H$ A9 m, {8 E% Q# s" Q1 ]is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
! r$ `9 f; w& k; p$ n/ yover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* }7 L7 k8 X# mseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 G/ z4 D) @# a* w; S( Y: f
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
! _+ \# ?- F' E: l" U; g. L' Fshortage which the government is addressing by converting some) R* @+ `8 T' g( E6 b
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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, j7 r; R# H% s4 j! ^7 r8 b. E6 L+ EThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
9 u; C0 n8 R! z) x5 Yprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
0 J$ I3 q# z' w8 Y* }# F Ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
' }- x6 N# @' g5 S- J' m! ^1 Bhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good/ m/ A, B1 b( L. M/ g t# p; a
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 ]' J2 {+ s% J* N0 k, ~sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 S9 m5 u4 q+ D0 O/ K0 ]% vdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 v0 B/ i- o% ?8 x) \- ?3 ?Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When( Q- _0 ~4 ?9 y; \; b, R# P5 N) c" h
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" O/ U9 i$ }& a s: {/ Q
charge the fee defined by the state./ L; C8 E; I+ ]% x- R' G4 {
, p) s3 `1 Q4 u. ~- SThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
. V( v3 a0 W+ yon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
7 A% B- i/ g1 h @, K) h' U3 aof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
# d3 M7 u$ S) W" X) ?& @" vtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
$ m! H! z: A' c% E S* T& f/ |; nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the- l1 C' i! s0 K9 r4 L; F
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on |% b2 k/ E# a7 g4 d' ]2 M5 U
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
+ h$ [. @9 e& `3 H) r$ `4 Jyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
( G( \6 @1 q. D4 ttrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch2 |# \6 M2 H/ I8 p; o8 ?
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; o0 Y* U0 C* F9 `' ~. |3 L! {9 Z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! k. T3 d0 }0 F% y( O/ Sto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 X: J6 W& K; b. b# M
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there( q3 ^+ ^( ?! H, T7 T9 d" Z
are spaces.
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5 ]' ~% f4 G1 J2 N" SThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi! z1 C8 S0 w1 K! [' Q
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they, }* M2 j+ d8 ?4 S2 k3 F* l K
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- Y0 {% T9 f# _7 _6 k40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
9 I4 I' s. F) I/ k0 K% x6 \parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
: r. h# c. ]" F( Ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
8 q& D9 h1 n- l# A- Z' Unice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of& y+ w3 v9 }$ i5 b
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* m$ f; C) l3 j; l( D0 His a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.; [) H8 A9 G' M8 z0 B+ W6 \2 @* B
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
