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+ O2 i+ a/ |3 Y% \. }3 V
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went# j# V" C1 K) u& E
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
0 z2 K: s) n5 I9 g! g8 Y"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& P r- i2 s+ t) p8 }) \6 O t% X
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
" W9 @$ U* Y0 E' f: f/ q45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand( U( R) U+ R, ]
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
5 ]7 X: T" X! ]8 K8 cfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams7 F$ c! k {+ V/ a R1 a
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
0 d, K4 y# t/ ^* ?9 fmedical schools.
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* c$ p# l6 \' N( n% I9 c2 KEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" M& i8 ?- T( I* P6 p- V
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- w- b% p/ A) H* Dto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
T, \! h- q# Xassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. ?& d- J# N H0 ?is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to' E) |$ a7 W4 v
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
7 q3 S! m5 g* Q3 G4 W, y! |. _seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, ^3 M$ S0 Q/ Y' R s
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk9 m2 S3 ^5 [1 x) h8 v8 T) o
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ T& @9 U% g# z9 B5 I5 j) ~sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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# y0 e" [3 y K1 \7 hThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
4 }4 O% u6 |# R9 ]4 R* Yprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and" m2 G/ C4 k, e3 P' y0 d1 Q, Q$ w
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' D/ L+ p% b& l! F
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
0 g$ y% |: j/ i! j5 uthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
. e" ^' E# W# @' `7 X3 Bsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
! E& Y' `. |! n" q9 A% Mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. |# G: W7 l& m
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; c7 }/ z7 B4 F! E3 Z& N
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* W0 j4 h$ `( l2 j$ r
charge the fee defined by the state.
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~: D" c) o2 m7 o4 I# |There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, C7 w- ]) O ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
?! T3 Y! A) Y# V7 J& p, @of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big5 u# B: I% |8 M4 A4 K
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel& K/ p2 X. c7 i# z' s$ e7 D
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ I3 O% s# T, j6 `+ J
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; W8 D! g! I* B: M8 ]0 |
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
. Z5 R; V6 d3 R9 |4 F; wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 g. ^4 O! E7 u5 B0 {# G; Y
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
8 R" J1 r( Q ]! H: i0 _% R2 R+ ^9 Thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that$ q5 A( p2 J# P' g
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
# y, r& Y4 f- \+ ]0 N$ |# Z& S- lto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or* U. y3 m& h7 ]5 `2 r
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there5 c" k4 ^! O! ?
are spaces., D4 F8 ]1 d& a T/ w7 V# ]
2 s1 }* s6 @3 x9 C8 _2 q; Q0 GThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
6 X: C# v# h; H6 Q$ i/ r9 u P0 ~to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they5 U0 q& b- I3 M: k0 o; I
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
# V8 @, ]& \5 N# G2 B( ^# b& F40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
. D3 ?4 ^ |( K8 }4 Q3 Aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
, q1 W8 P$ ]/ ~3 ?( s" X8 W. Ubest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
7 N6 e( G" t" d5 vnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 D; a5 g' C. O) s
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" O' F% k" P1 f% \6 ?is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.1 C( K3 U9 f& d* Y& R
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
