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$ `7 u; \- Z2 `% l
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went' Q- p8 U- |* H- B1 |1 |* C8 e
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,8 {5 L1 T5 y( {; Y# ~* t$ f" ?
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
5 D5 p0 X; ~8 I* Vanswers to our pointed questions.
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5 m6 _) f( X$ i& l3 D- EThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 z4 |+ a7 g' L$ m$ [45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
1 Z/ d2 [2 }# qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
7 T+ p2 o$ U. I' A. q8 }7 xfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams* ]0 o. V+ O A) p& G3 W) m
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! l9 G0 y$ t" W3 B
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
( Z0 e7 v( K: v9 Tgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
/ q! L" N) B. s) F# a5 }3 q1 q8 Y- Hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
( {4 q( P. I; f3 Iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba) U4 x) w( b) ^. W0 E2 T! u
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
9 N" B4 X, x" Q0 v4 ^2 ^9 M: [over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There9 j, G: v2 L4 R# S
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and T7 F- W5 ]9 T
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
; I f5 Y" f" }8 ^( Mshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ A R+ Z5 f" b# V, P( U% nsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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7 ~! d# c! k/ r% z- pThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
5 b4 l8 n& T, U3 qprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ D! t* F* @& @! x
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
% i: q6 [5 ~4 w' G- v9 Ahave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
D8 Q! d8 U/ v, V# o: nthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
6 f i: d$ `, Z Y( @* R x E: Usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; G4 T) R8 l8 ^# P9 f4 a! Gdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.( t( i9 g+ H1 ?6 n$ c/ g! G% |
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
- X' K- ^" b+ F: I; |; \a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 x. |( x6 u; I- B1 t3 p
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get3 s: k7 @7 b0 t
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
* u* z$ R/ H* [ U! v$ X% ^2 ]$ Fof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
8 m) {. W6 _' Ttruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
0 b& x3 S0 r, R i$ |/ b# sseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: F9 M' F' b1 R- g" C9 L! F
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
6 ]0 w4 q8 r, Pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& W4 N. C2 z5 ]7 G0 b
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
% E2 ?; R. b* x* t! Itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
, E4 h+ ^ Y3 U" Phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; M6 k: W% p# Q
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( \ A/ E( ]1 [0 v0 gto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& o( [7 F1 d7 ]
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
1 [9 _9 ~5 j8 Sare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
0 i% ]$ x% c3 Q" |$ C6 Wto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
- c& Q1 d+ b3 W. pown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 ~; z0 ^6 q9 x7 f& {
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
+ |7 q. f6 P6 Jparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- t7 i/ V5 p7 z" [4 F. T7 }best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; K* U' y( r1 N& V6 Pnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 Q6 ^9 F) I+ h" D2 d
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: X/ }: E: F ^
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 Q- H6 K' [6 g) D6 u We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
