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) t+ j7 M1 r! d- C
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
8 _$ o' `* u0 i @& H9 Don a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,, G1 t5 N/ g6 u7 C- M2 T
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
2 q6 G* `& d' U0 Q v8 E, uanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
0 Q4 G' }, R( |8 z3 V45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% A5 q' d) I, S! Q8 f
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
% ?& Q/ V3 ~& z- ]free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 B8 f# R- H; V2 `
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ q& C- ^& t1 N ?' \: [
medical schools.+ y$ s9 @8 K" e. J0 v( K
% t1 A2 i }& iEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
9 v& c- m) Y O T5 X7 dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
& X+ I U, O: P5 ?" K N0 U* Cto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
- n- F! {( h3 y+ ~- o' ]assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; N" f- @' \4 [, Uis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
U" x' Y3 L; aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' v& A Q3 _6 L E S
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& _( o4 p1 P, Y
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
- t6 R! E4 Z) h) W/ I( Oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
4 a3 ]! D; s, ~& V; Ssugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.4 }/ m& r$ X- E2 l0 p
5 z" N5 f0 n4 `9 IThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 b ^1 N- S1 D: B7 `8 c h
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: j# O% t7 l! Z5 H0 z. _
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
' u) z$ @2 Z7 b; y" p2 Whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% `, U- A( ~' r6 z: B$ A7 sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
) m) c i5 u2 Z: L$ P o4 Jsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high2 p% i3 o8 P1 _+ l6 K- p5 m0 d
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
- w- A* y- Y y5 V( n: VDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! T, `0 [" k; d# V; ba lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& m0 |- }! l& G' `# j. h t; Q( Icharge the fee defined by the state.
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7 W4 o/ ~9 q. `, F4 I% Z( yThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get* U- u9 M+ U3 [# F1 p; p
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
: K( j- ]$ q9 W% M Uof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
6 k( Y" G& k- mtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: [+ A( r2 x1 J; S7 n; J- Q+ d" Gseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* ^. Q2 y7 h3 i; x! aworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
1 ^4 y Z8 H* e4 N7 pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if1 ]$ `6 J5 X7 m; t8 J- D! A- I) N
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
( ]/ p5 g( m9 c6 {& t# Etrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
6 t' E; Z! F H+ d* n: G* c# Dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that6 Z1 V: }8 ~& p
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want- `5 O4 f# b4 I) O, l, _& a
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
0 L8 j2 q/ l, e1 I: p4 M# e+ ybuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 L( I! T1 j2 d) Q9 t$ |are spaces.
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6 Z8 H5 s! t* |! n4 y) H5 R# A1 FThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 F, G. Y6 {9 v& h" ]4 H1 o
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
3 k5 G C# `+ Y' z- Pown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
' |. j: c; E" a40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ B# S! a$ X8 u8 l+ v+ ]1 a# D; S
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the$ ?/ ^- }4 Y0 D7 A5 g7 ~. {
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few. w. H2 w& g; j
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 m* N: K( \4 y* Ecar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 z0 ]( `' P0 L6 ` Z/ ]
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 v K# V% b( g6 F$ K We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
