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
. o; l; p, y5 `5 Z7 k: j, x! vstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
3 G% j, ~/ o1 g% A) |0 Con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,! s3 O# V3 d+ o: j/ P% v& e" Z
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give l5 o/ w1 ?. d
answers to our pointed questions.1 S" V2 J. c4 u
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
' |/ X: g- s" w' c) [. s% p# N2 V45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 L/ t+ ?' U7 w! D5 S \
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
+ P/ i( k4 E. \3 Y @free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
" \$ i+ V' U: f: m! j! gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
/ f6 L; W% G! I2 A& F# i+ smedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
9 N% x4 I- @- U" fgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants) j' y0 K8 R' ~2 N
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
. K8 \- F/ y O6 A+ nassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
7 Z* N8 ^2 \' D# ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
; q, q$ _$ Z9 `( b1 Zover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There( c; m& j; Q# v4 E* P
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and% f+ {+ X. A2 U' i
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk7 p* p) b; k, ]# B4 K' y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
8 i" F; h% X7 Usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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% l- d2 v) V. b- H1 j8 u. cThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
# I" g% h' f9 e/ wprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and |7 Y. `" Y" I& B, b ]; h
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
. ]( I$ L; c' g9 C1 l/ c. z" `+ Lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
) q0 s7 [, [4 ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
. ~. }) Y2 u1 a* K" J3 Bsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 d" {/ h# ^) \1 r/ f2 Z A$ R! W# i/ ]
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 m: u0 b- P; W9 m, z5 {1 i" SDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
( e, O- J+ ~) a, R' na lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only$ z7 ~0 ~+ v! z& T( \" T
charge the fee defined by the state.
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' E4 g: }. m L$ b( x* Z5 o$ E& u3 YThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 s( ? n6 e1 l3 bon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
7 U' ~! W% V* ~: |( U# Dof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
$ Z3 p7 f& s; C8 I0 `8 n# J4 \truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel4 l! O* A; `4 g& s1 H9 r+ `
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
- Y) ?- j& n& P6 ^' Cworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 ~- @3 U) Y$ Y! r% q( R% H9 q
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ ~: V- T; M+ q+ m- s* N
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
' P/ _+ X- `% x: r4 d. V4 Ytrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch4 L' o1 d8 P0 Q X8 p
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; R% S4 [+ ~4 g1 w
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% ]8 `. Y3 X( a/ F4 hto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
6 f+ _8 v4 i' l% S5 f$ _3 `buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
6 f! d/ v U% `# Tare spaces.
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# t* q3 q% [, @There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
4 {# x: D1 Z8 b8 sto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) H! C o0 |0 h' o
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' k* G8 {' n; u+ i
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different. u3 u; o/ ?+ l' X a, A
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" N2 g! p& c( p4 [9 K A( }% J
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few F" f6 N1 i. l( {& @
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ J2 {$ p3 h% T: T1 B& Z. y
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* {% y; \% v6 o( U6 e7 `is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.9 s$ q7 a3 r8 o. @# y( K
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
