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
. E- J/ C; x; u; ]% Wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
# J9 I% b9 c3 x( e8 u) v4 R6 f5 Eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,9 @( f% V- H. g x; D4 L/ e
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
, Z: }- w! a _* J* i8 H, wanswers to our pointed questions.% C& R# F1 a: I5 M$ o7 h
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
7 k9 H; W: D; [45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand7 B b9 G( S/ W; \) {! \4 M
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is `2 P9 Q. l" ?
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams) c, k; V ^( e% y, W9 ?/ [$ L9 U
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& P3 v# n. H, D- z6 i+ u2 [. j: G
medical schools.- e' l9 d# V! `: r% h6 x
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, I7 q7 m( b$ ~; Igovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants/ R x8 s+ J, D' K
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
O$ b5 Z7 g3 b+ i. o' _& m9 Vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba3 j N3 @$ {3 n$ R
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% W {. ]2 M# [! ~# X
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' ?# `4 |2 t" `* _
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
% H \6 D+ U$ g( zmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk |4 }8 k0 f9 Z6 J
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some# y! k4 t- E3 _+ F7 b* S2 T) z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% W3 R: O" r6 J, U9 h7 _
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 I+ K4 L$ [: @2 F
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
3 B1 M$ V `# r) B# ^have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- B- [0 ], O; [7 g% S' F R) Z0 }
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
( g2 Y- k" D c2 `% O0 R3 [9 wsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 ^) ]) ?- L' @# G3 }
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.2 r+ k0 E, x/ D9 i) T. m
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
0 n: t4 c( ?* R! a2 sa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) P) R# c' ~$ F) i# {) y% Y
charge the fee defined by the state.* N: c9 G2 e4 N
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" Q4 P0 u1 H' G; s9 {on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! ^3 m% A0 U4 T# _7 K0 b kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
2 X; p a* t" N7 {( ~ B0 l: B9 ftruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel* \( J h) A8 \, @& i/ M5 z
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
4 m8 d0 K5 f; j" P6 ^working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
5 D: T" a9 F7 d/ R2 ~4 aschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
" t# S- _# z7 w. J( X6 }% ~you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ o& C( [4 \% K4 K$ G8 _) R
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& P8 ~% f, e1 }! m1 U' E& b' Nhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* u" F5 u) w+ ?) z6 opeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" @" ^: K; I2 D7 d2 l
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
9 A! r: j1 y" Y: O" V. K b q. }buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 q, J& p) j' r0 q+ K0 R
are spaces./ N: K- k& H# Y; }$ s; L
) F- W$ X4 X9 C- n( S2 TThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi& d) i% }6 R, }- x/ d" o
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they/ N4 S* H5 ]. f N; G
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the* Z) } C8 m3 m1 d) [3 Z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& {' j$ j% K* ~- k- g% o
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
# n _$ z; g; y; @best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
9 I j7 i2 {. C x, D5 Ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
# B3 A3 [9 W5 A$ }8 Xcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: M1 [' e/ w# q; ?! q. N2 {4 b3 p- ]
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 Q# d2 e' y4 u2 B
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
