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
5 o' s1 Y/ ?+ B9 R, T6 Qstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went* @- Y$ k0 \4 k8 S1 s
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
- n& b, r9 C( R* F6 n2 Z( n"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give7 n. w, D7 @( z1 B. J6 z
answers to our pointed questions.
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y( s9 y% {0 U" `The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
, s- M- o4 y' G+ I! x; I' Y- d7 v9 c45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
/ Q+ d1 B/ V7 V) |out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 u- Y" `, H! N4 `0 y U
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 S# Q* R0 F b
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are% T: V" Y' F/ p0 g0 l% z
medical schools.5 h' d J/ M4 D- c K7 i
$ C4 V: ^3 m& I& TEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the) H5 j) w! ]! S' Q9 u
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants5 j/ _1 C5 B' H& a
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years6 ] R- H2 ~1 L% K# T
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: q6 r# } y+ E% M9 H
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
, h3 j; [1 A3 qover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
' R& z' ?( x0 |7 j5 _seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 C' t5 a& G" [( F& m/ F
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
3 A$ `' V) l5 Y: ?0 Oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
4 h' }5 ~6 `) w6 t7 U! vsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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|! n$ N' w, c, NThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no; T; J+ a7 R2 L" f
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% ~/ H. r' Q% q1 K. D& c$ M! ~1 ?
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people/ \/ U1 K" O& _: P* }
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good( m) i3 V7 j% J* U
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
& L( T( }4 s8 Q' W! x2 @sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) N) P4 S$ W% g" a1 B- sdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
w N& u3 I# J! }2 Y6 XDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When$ w2 d* A. b2 \* l, N9 _
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
5 l" q1 {# s# V: Acharge the fee defined by the state.
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4 E- L& t" L8 Q( q" SThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* K; I7 ~0 t. { X' [5 E( X' fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
* a. @1 q5 x: Oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
1 C2 F c; E3 @6 ~5 htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel2 {# [/ Q: v" M* x
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
2 ~* g3 ?) h; Z( k8 K2 Yworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
! ^$ U" V7 Y# w0 T; J8 ?schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
1 R) K. z6 n2 L, L0 s2 V9 G- x1 Q1 yyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
0 ~& W' ?! t! ^4 i ^ z5 ytrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" D8 k4 v2 h2 I `3 C# S9 i7 C# O
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
$ f4 l/ F5 c9 c, Epeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want! i$ N3 s- ~/ Z5 d0 w. t% R
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
( {7 g/ f. K" T. n- k. V" sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
; w3 k/ D- Q$ Y+ Iare spaces.5 K' b: `5 A# T& H W
0 L/ k) {) m: L! F2 w8 PThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
/ u; `6 e9 | W4 {* e+ Gto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they( G* p; c9 [8 E* j
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- \6 \! c7 w, |40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ c* k8 J% S1 M4 x; L) K X0 A
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 h$ ?, m1 ~5 `$ U9 H( Pbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few# y( j5 d. {8 q+ y1 X
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 M# ?9 Q( w. s) t: ?+ |1 Z
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
. h) A( O# O3 M3 }7 K9 xis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ j6 s# C! e$ V& G8 O" B We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
