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
1 n5 y: Z {8 `- Gstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 Q) ?% V) J9 }' Z0 j
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,9 ]8 ^" r$ B% z" N
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give5 G y1 q0 s( G+ b) J8 o
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,0 ]5 m2 t% Q5 m+ ^
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( @+ K7 W6 u6 _$ ~7 q7 @2 rout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% b5 K9 ~, a+ b x7 s- e0 f% L
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( A! R$ U* }2 |% x9 n: Q
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
A4 h( f( V) `+ s/ Kmedical schools.( h. [9 |$ B7 C3 I" I. p' x
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' C2 o& A& e: ~, `
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants' W. U" Z9 V1 X$ r( M) m. M
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 f3 f; g6 Q$ _+ \& C& q( Q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 Y; T% Z; e. _- @" T3 m+ _
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ [( V; D n. U0 P1 Jover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
$ \5 Z# u3 U1 N$ b$ s5 qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
. d& u; \$ O) b' Zmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
/ U9 _( G) d. X3 w2 pshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 v$ a( i- V K: N+ f( m- @sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! ~7 y! ?* n: W2 y. m5 d L
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
* e% T4 Y4 x8 V, }0 Yprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( c, V7 A" ~+ g7 T% O7 ^
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. ]4 i1 s4 D2 f3 Y% \
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
5 |7 @6 k+ s* i1 {thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby! _* B1 E, K! d* I8 ^3 \6 @7 r, e
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
# r# Q: L- j5 y3 @( w# W) w3 Ndivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
2 G* t" E' R- |: yDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When( `% c8 k/ M+ o2 S
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ r* L% u# H; F' ?6 wcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
# F: f e* b" U+ c" Ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, r$ [# [7 I8 w* Eof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ V' |2 h0 q! w" f% `$ ~- n! g
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 C: P5 c; v$ E/ F
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 e$ M2 I( k) O$ k* K
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& m3 O) V% J/ S8 y4 Q o
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ l0 n2 E- k9 C
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
! `) ^$ f: _4 u$ W Strying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( Y2 T8 B0 ]7 l, `2 u9 L/ p# l- ~* u
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
, E% Y) {& H0 _1 Npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% E7 u2 q# |9 ]# H/ Fto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or1 |1 ~5 m+ D$ y( W( n
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there$ w9 t! Z5 m/ y
are spaces.
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7 f" i4 j, t/ J! p) MThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi' z6 L0 c8 F6 X7 N7 F+ Y9 M5 u2 {
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 o1 v5 r+ K- k9 h- f! U
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the Y b9 V$ y1 ^9 g. o: x+ h
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 a% p) L! y6 K6 d; ~! \! l
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
7 Q" R9 F! r+ t: S4 J2 \. S2 dbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few1 O' r/ o5 Z2 W& C( z' V
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of% @+ Q" f) E6 P
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& F, J. y1 Z3 ]( r' Z; s/ N6 M
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: w. G. K; F( O! @6 j. I( s
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
