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
! H y9 w$ P# K( z. f; Sstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went& z* W- M8 b( y9 k [* ? O8 H& P9 Z. B
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' P! f8 l' V a/ l
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
9 P4 j) ~. K! W" `$ \answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
! l# C2 c, `% ]- @$ e45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
7 Q9 Z% D5 G" J. [+ U- t9 o/ }! z6 mout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
" B5 H- A: n7 v5 ` Y: Z$ rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams4 W3 Y1 f2 R* G5 R
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are8 y# A0 d/ b, j! b6 V( b) ?
medical schools.
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* L! ^( |: w" u6 t# @/ \+ vEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the) ~7 Z( b0 Y. R- q& B
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
' c# L1 I/ m9 J1 `8 Yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
" T s& J0 A {assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
* y# b' S' @0 D, J, T' L F6 d' F# kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ Q8 @! f8 E2 \% @+ bover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, b/ i6 i# s( K9 k% e xseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 z" u) S" b2 V" G* i0 x2 p9 U
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
. g4 h9 w B _1 o: B) Tshortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 Q$ T8 R" C% k f# p$ U. g
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 ~$ L! P! D+ x( o7 l9 Y
4 X2 N& [2 b7 }The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 q. Z2 T" `! F* s! y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ k# u* Y% D/ ]5 Jsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
k& j' }% U2 C9 {' hhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ C* ~: b( R/ Z" V% Fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby8 \3 O, x# e+ n" n, x. u, `( {' o) z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
% U6 c- g \+ n0 `, Ddivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.( O1 ^) u0 t. {) l. u7 K. x) G
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When3 l3 c- b. m4 i
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 P. F( G+ N0 v/ R: H; j/ ucharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% i& S" v4 f ^: a% e* f) h, S* [on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
; D8 C- D# _% J% n A+ Fof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big* r$ `4 f! c1 d7 h+ P1 E* B
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
* b& I) J0 O, x! ~( R* ^ Nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
7 w' C: t: a1 N4 `) {3 Zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ V! ~% j5 M1 ^) i
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 K4 e/ V' y9 m9 W' @; J6 s
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ y- G- r5 R8 m- Q/ Strying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. o% |8 y7 H# c) r* k
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
2 O& K9 q; m, ]4 r, ypeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
8 v h5 v" Q$ ^8 n1 bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
. | r3 \& ]; |/ n; F7 M6 Jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ a+ B2 p) Y4 m# c" @) r( S
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
+ b( M! W3 _. J, R2 uown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the0 {' S8 a4 _" X+ [, j
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
9 s Y9 s I8 K- Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. t4 k3 D {0 d
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
9 G6 d0 {' u7 B1 F Z% Vnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 i8 \5 q5 X* M2 x" n
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- @' T' s2 `6 i! O1 u! n
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned./ f. [/ p5 e, D$ n6 a7 u- g
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
