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 B1 L2 `$ C+ N! [! ?4 D
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
( j' g# G v8 }3 o: M# W* oon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,, |) n- Y1 a& J Q6 z* i+ L" r
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 ?: U7 U9 u I
answers to our pointed questions.5 K$ r) w6 D( F f. j! c3 f2 h( g
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( e- d' p* s8 T1 r
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand" h" v/ n5 y& ^ r# A
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ S; v2 r3 f* }free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams- @7 N" [! R- r6 n: o1 ^- n% _- s
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 M+ G$ `+ {5 J3 t- R! f) Vmedical schools.' {$ ?4 s# l5 L/ X! B0 G
+ _% ?( t$ i( b% C4 U B1 uEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
& P0 k! E0 x( ^) n: ~government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 j: ]5 _# t6 }, R+ B5 m0 F# S
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years* D2 S# ]# @ ^( c0 o
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
2 n6 q' R- J" i# J$ f3 k& x' v; nis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
% ^- i7 m4 Q3 v* f2 [over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There1 T( z+ l/ z F# B4 ^+ \! m, U
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and. d" i7 ]2 y: i& ^7 `8 n' D5 v5 F9 c, i
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 W; L' I: u4 `6 z. m/ s
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some* ~9 w9 Z5 O+ C( }# h/ `; u* ]
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.% J! N& |3 k5 V- t
* V( k" o3 b5 h! U" kThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. a2 v4 f8 B. v( F& o1 xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
8 u) L) w# J* }2 h) J% Q! Vsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people, j. n0 b l/ u5 o) C& q
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ N) k O7 x3 k+ @4 _& ]
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby" {* [! l( O1 a# P+ s
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
$ {( v2 ?5 J: `7 K* ?divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.( I7 M, K% ?/ I5 y8 X9 c
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& [9 D! e& G( }" Z c0 p
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
) O, Y- Z& R9 Y' A* v# B* {charge the fee defined by the state.+ y- t6 j0 {5 i
% ]: ?% ~/ B. c. ?3 W! W2 H% VThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
2 |* @ r$ Z7 `/ W* pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type$ u) g% W+ ?7 S" r) O8 b* u4 ]5 s0 a' M
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
" A7 o0 c `( D" W# \2 G1 Vtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, J( V2 A" |. N6 P. C9 `
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the. y6 N, @6 @5 s3 s9 q7 P
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
3 T% d* b" Q2 u; ^6 E; z1 }% e& aschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if3 l$ H0 V9 w) f. }7 ]6 N
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people1 |1 d+ {1 }% ~5 v6 R! x
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
) n m7 L+ K1 Z- h' v3 w) _hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that$ l2 u0 z, e! }( g; J- J; R( r) R
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want( B, e+ G# V: t7 p0 d% g# A" w$ t( u
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
1 X% p3 O! |# i4 T7 g+ Gbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there& \# V( T) W( |5 v
are spaces.9 F6 D1 m3 o: }. a& [5 {: |
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
) l2 a5 x% i7 g' f0 f: ]$ m0 tto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they1 ~0 o( X. j5 p: v' v
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! |# S' g' v* j" K( Y4 W
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; o+ Y9 ?' r+ I# `( y# n
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: A' g+ p! U5 a" b
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
/ F& A- J; m! U2 K' mnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* M# n4 B! ], S3 u
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 p2 E: o2 G2 b6 V& z( a. v7 l
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned." u) |$ {) C; c4 S& ]% O
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
