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- x3 S% N2 ]! X/ @. P2 T T
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went# J3 h& |, \! `- Q) [4 K% L* O
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; n7 O3 U- z5 f8 ^
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) x+ C3 W; g" M2 e8 q" ~% b
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,5 @ N7 Q2 I( ~0 N/ [& j
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
. m5 h, o a) v2 l! Aout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is8 `0 R6 ^2 R; z) g7 s
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 c9 \8 R) x' l3 N: _' ]( mto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
# d7 t* a( ~. r% `% tmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# a; U/ G) ]( a
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
! e: F& S$ @9 tto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
. g' J W/ J2 J: ?2 i4 bassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba5 m2 e# |; M. R$ J/ h! H/ N
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 r7 Z1 Q$ t+ {( v, P( Z
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There* [. T- h+ h7 F" Y3 S- {
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and: ?; e0 ~# v K) J& u1 U
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" E4 p4 c2 R( q7 U
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some# M. R+ [( K% y, ^# x
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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' q( b. Y0 k5 o- R5 FThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
4 v! ^1 g9 x! f8 Eprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 C! r3 K; r0 }$ M& W! _. l0 ?
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people: z1 C0 E7 W. {0 @3 x3 r
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) s: k5 U. N- W/ U
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 d! O2 V) g7 X8 P
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high6 V! d4 h5 \8 w- }+ d5 F) x
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* L3 x# `6 Q" H5 z( X3 sDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
3 U* d" o ~- N& O1 q. Ma lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
) t, e" u9 g( m5 ]charge the fee defined by the state.3 o+ u* J6 C$ O' @) F
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ g8 R7 d7 w: B: ~- `* p; A* Q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
: K2 C& ^+ E5 U2 I: r: Mof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big3 L* T" o- ?. n6 s9 K5 [2 k, q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
. \8 W M4 g' \# x" xseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
# P4 u& k+ X; q7 xworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
( c/ |& a% C- x& m9 r/ m) R. Jschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if( D8 x c, z9 f) V, b5 T# W0 v
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. _9 g% ^; Y* A& [trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
3 b: i$ q7 c( Z% Thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# G* C5 p! L! o8 b; N3 W4 N" c# [" E
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
2 K$ B" M$ _+ `$ A! Ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
! o; L$ m' s3 Z% T8 r: cbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
' a E. S% k# nare spaces., S, G, u; R* ^# c/ ]3 d. m0 o
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
( \8 B" `* v* H3 j5 k" N* e" Gto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
+ p- I( j {5 Y+ y- J' Z! d _" Zown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ i" k; ?$ I' ?6 s40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' K4 y( B" y( V6 i X/ |parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" J7 z; }6 M; n# l3 C% _
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few+ q! d, D+ Y8 t- B
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
6 Q# B+ _" Q( e3 Y& tcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it! L+ v4 O6 Q0 j0 A" G. O
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ `6 S( C/ y. W We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
