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
1 {, `* _0 O& B t7 Hstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 q" C# v& e1 c+ b0 K3 B5 b! \! aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: a) F& f$ ^2 B( C" U
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
3 f! T! u/ W+ E; \+ i3 Xanswers to our pointed questions.6 E) i* q6 P! a4 A+ C0 s; y
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: p3 J) C, R% f2 }/ O% K9 {
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
4 L/ n- H% X* u* y# Cout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is8 q [3 k+ ^6 _4 s! y) @
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 V; _) a$ J( y% V9 b4 D/ gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are- s: X* I% }* j. f% D- ?
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the L' b6 Z# r+ _7 s
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
6 b7 [0 K/ v8 z. Kto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( T$ K( J0 k5 M! X- l. q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba6 b% w# } ]& _4 R) v; |
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to1 R* z! `! w. k. w" ^
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
0 d. H+ J W: }: q5 m9 M4 zseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
$ _. h ]5 H P: H4 `$ {8 Amostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
2 [& D$ E' T+ Zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some( N* d2 K' o$ q1 a
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.; b( r% U' u4 z7 O' r* G
2 t$ L; o# D( B+ p; l3 k) C. N+ JThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) {+ R/ s, H% {% f4 C
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 `$ o( W1 A# b& @& k( |7 v
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 o3 a1 E7 m0 ^$ O4 [" }have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
9 b# D4 ~: c: t; Pthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
( T m0 B4 e9 T. |5 asitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
4 F* L* ^2 x8 R0 ]% e# T, Rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ w! o) S3 S% r2 ?Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
/ C, f$ j& S$ ^. v4 Ra lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
8 k8 ?; j% ]+ Y/ D& L' t; qcharge the fee defined by the state.
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8 W" C0 \4 g7 s: \0 N! \There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get! ?" a m* @; e- r7 s
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type9 m4 Y* X- d7 N I& a5 f
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: g% n# K( |( G
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 z, a# r( f- ~/ L7 ?8 C
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
. }# l9 D7 {7 `" K& j0 zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
+ i: f; Q$ U1 x: a4 X$ B+ Kschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
, n) B) D% s. R8 m% H: }) \& Q- eyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 m. y/ i& |$ O" |+ i$ {4 Etrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
8 k' j& S- x3 g" r3 A( v4 P" mhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that" w' h0 {3 j7 d& Z. J3 F
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want! A$ ^# y0 v( ^! ~2 A! I0 N
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
; {6 |5 Z V) { {: `- gbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# B( ]5 x8 M1 u* J; k0 G
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
3 a( [/ S, `/ a/ O" l# I) V3 _4 ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they. f4 `9 l% I. C2 W' H0 A. ^
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the- t: x M- m! C" ^% ?$ ]4 z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 S& ?3 G- A9 w: ]' E& m; G
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 b+ s$ E$ X5 ]3 w, ?3 h3 ^best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! P3 d% F0 U; U+ A
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
: ]. E1 @! ?' D1 |% m- L: G8 L9 Jcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it7 M! ]# G9 J% z) s" t- w
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., j# C' d* O( {; o: N6 O( b
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
