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' S% D% W6 x: b( T, q" e
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 ]- Y& A) G5 X& g6 j
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' S z3 R6 v/ l, U l& V. p1 q
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 m4 c1 L4 x: x8 h, @* M. @- A
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ q# w' [; O* H# U* e: i1 A
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
, b* D5 p0 C& A' J% I9 {out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
; n$ r% k/ E# Nfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams7 F# }4 S3 L) r
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are% J3 M( Q9 t5 N
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the: y! i5 e0 G+ S/ \3 ]: a4 ~0 ~
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
o6 T2 t) M9 [3 E1 q7 rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% v7 q! {8 M: ?5 i3 q/ z5 `
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 |! @. l$ U1 u) v8 v! c& }
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
( Y5 M6 B* j6 Fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There1 p+ U. z2 }+ c% R
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and$ ?8 k; m: w6 M8 |$ Q) J
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 P, A5 N5 _% o, R$ f+ K
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some; O ]+ _3 [# Q, t3 h
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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. V6 X+ q B. V* JThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 M4 L; E1 [+ f z
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& l1 U$ d: m& O, H
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
$ `% }( j: x, f0 k6 A: }6 `have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" x6 i/ W+ s/ H) |: Q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 R! k0 r1 P& {4 x" @5 ?3 Psitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
4 s" Z: o" `, ]* |# L* |, t2 M [5 i9 wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 Q1 Q, T$ S8 a0 F6 f
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 | V+ S0 m( A& d3 J6 k9 w K$ Y
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: f* \* `- G1 g2 n+ l/ l5 r5 b4 C( w# ]
charge the fee defined by the state.7 d" G( p" d- Y
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get" d) w: Q0 \! i- V3 I1 Y- r
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
+ Z7 k. ]1 b& p7 ^of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big2 l4 B/ p" H. Q: ~0 C( ?% ]
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel F$ q+ Z) K1 A4 {1 @
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the1 F. `1 Z/ w1 Z4 I4 z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
3 U0 R& K" u5 o9 }schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
( W8 Q0 X8 O" [( w3 T% [you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people& v# I3 K* g5 V' L3 E, r# P1 [3 i
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, F1 C( q+ @7 S- B: k6 e
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) j, B9 x, w7 l% {
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want+ h' t3 M' S1 k
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 Z6 K% A: m- N6 @
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there: V! y; F, W0 r6 W3 a' U2 i
are spaces.8 B n9 L: B" b! }, H" j
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 B! q" A# V9 w( @- B. bto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 q! h" f# c9 n0 T
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the l' F A5 K: E7 J, d9 Y
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" g7 H5 E! K5 p+ _& m- d3 ~/ e& Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the$ Q5 D7 }: J# u
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few y* Q1 a. D4 z
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
! V6 P6 M+ U) z4 ocar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
5 o. n6 j4 J s; J# W5 Wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
, M0 ]5 H4 w9 a6 v. l+ Z: h& W We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
