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: O# L. F% n& Z, O {$ T j' ]
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
+ y, K3 J' _ H7 Y5 Pon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,* k: E% o3 a/ b$ n1 {6 C
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: P. B; u- A5 H- ~
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
. c) ]" w* l0 a* Y `0 \9 t45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% u# `1 d$ t6 A& q% c
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is3 ?1 @1 {2 T( t0 i! M+ l
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 b4 U* z' b3 k( }$ |/ ?. j
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are5 ^$ U0 |( h1 ^5 b. s
medical schools.0 V+ \- M, k" ~; Q
5 d* i: q1 f0 c$ g0 kEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% X5 i$ P4 D2 u& Q, y: M
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants+ M0 o# a. B1 W! a% b
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
5 |. h, H7 J1 ]* V$ G# k' Sassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, L3 h7 T! V v5 r8 o B) Xis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
; B1 K% M q$ N, yover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% d Z# Z: J) L. G* M n1 ]7 b
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and: |7 M" s: d+ V; y t1 d9 j: `$ D
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- f7 }) b5 O2 q- b
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 {7 [& u# j& X! O/ H$ |sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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3 s1 t$ ?+ K, w7 H# D7 M& [% lThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
5 G$ ]' t0 O; ~4 O7 gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 C( e3 U U1 n1 p1 d
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! n1 g, A: ?/ |2 L2 E
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ L) l6 s( ^3 ]# C$ L6 J1 [
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
' [/ q: @* x# F7 \sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
% g0 l* \; [ m y ^+ Ldivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years." w$ }) a; B* g5 s$ s
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, o2 A$ H- R4 m/ I4 a
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% }; P3 }) z9 M# P1 [; ~
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ i1 }& N: S& O+ Z* q' p4 i
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* o9 s' h- h7 r; v
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 R$ v/ X% a$ J& l8 E
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel4 V7 W1 f3 e+ T* F' J
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" u* y6 P# R* L: t8 I
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
+ q" a1 B! x% u0 bschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: e( \4 [5 U& y( U5 \you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
% C( g8 A/ l. D( _7 J- _& ktrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
7 H7 i& g/ h1 W) a( `& Khiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
0 P# Y2 h4 Q; w' t1 Lpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
+ Q* A( v3 r- O* Xto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 }" {$ w9 r( l U' i% u
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ t" T4 B# B U
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 \, h2 p3 z5 W
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' [0 ]/ ]; x( T& Q; m
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' x9 s+ s8 P& h" x) @parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
, V( q' z) _9 K/ \best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
6 w7 \; Q: ^% `0 f4 A8 znice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 j: A, l' ^" c W* w
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
7 g) q( s9 j( w, T% l: yis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.( w* |" _3 i3 B' h* g! V
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
