我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living8 l! ?; d+ h; S$ W( ~/ {( e
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) k# u- F; p# X! w
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
% [9 n' X( Z3 F% z$ l"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, @: |/ `4 h0 g2 [' h
answers to our pointed questions.7 [1 ]% c. d* d. [# D" {
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 o5 c- N0 V4 `6 n$ M: m45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 C( B' _6 e: x0 w. }
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
" u) r/ ?$ }9 W$ i; e8 I6 Kfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
1 O7 |, | [+ F/ e3 Yto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are- p: I* t' o% y
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
8 e2 I" `# C6 F( \0 ~# Dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- L- w- g9 o- f4 d! _
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
2 F7 U& Y$ a- m* i8 bassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba. j3 e9 j1 c! n% k/ j
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
( U8 ]& c7 k/ r; |8 d$ fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
' p1 {" ?3 Q, T0 g( z/ P, Hseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and$ L. p* f6 E) R
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk9 g; C; ] ^: C2 z, [/ K/ O0 Y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some! ^& I) h" {! S' p: ?+ q% J$ R1 h
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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2 b8 i) C: J* eThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no( i' d, R- w- ]# F* p7 z r
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
: r) r' H; t9 v* F( ]supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
u3 T8 [2 F- u6 i; Hhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
' ]0 H8 w" o; u; j" Othing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ }) Q' C" u( \
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high1 E, w6 Q; l/ z' U
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.0 {6 D, p- W$ L: V. s# U
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, u/ t# [7 b, }& J. Y
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
4 E2 P" ]9 f9 m5 Y0 acharge the fee defined by the state.
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5 M- W4 d: m1 m- O; I* B' [There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
( \4 o; W$ m, s8 J- kon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# F! p8 P9 h' H; I
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. r4 l+ c8 j$ [$ `! S. j7 `' qtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel4 d8 I! v1 O5 u
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
9 T. V9 t- E/ }& M' r' Iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
* X# {' k- `0 {9 o3 Q) U( T9 uschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
7 T* d: [1 a. T4 kyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" r9 @, ^9 v+ ?/ ?! A
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch% }. V9 v+ V$ n" I3 P; E. K% |
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that( s9 t& q: q3 d
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want, M0 M+ {! G6 W* V
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
. V+ X6 m% a8 t1 B1 _, E7 obuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
. b5 x( J: Y) }( h" Eare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
% V& c% B: \: g, b! o& Y6 ^to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
8 \, L8 _) p5 K. [; pown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& b+ i1 w8 {) `# V1 X4 w! `% @4 \40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
0 C. @* }; ~* Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! J. _' u, Z" I! dbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
) z6 T$ M0 w2 h9 F( ?0 X3 X1 [nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
4 J& o5 W, w+ D8 B8 B8 xcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
8 e; R" ?% M6 g2 }# Z; w1 sis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.4 d8 T* f6 R) i+ e6 w6 M
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
