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
5 ?; d5 G4 L! y2 C# d' q( Wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 ]3 P2 K# [4 M, M: G1 V
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
9 F8 ^( [" A8 t: \) g( o% F$ I4 J"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 t) t0 y& P: W9 A
answers to our pointed questions.
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5 @) y- s9 c) r# O. g) y2 o1 o8 MThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black," A( f) r; Z( q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
+ H7 }" O% k& `: Zout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% b4 [7 N5 r- P. n) b) d
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
$ h1 ]0 E; L5 ~0 | d1 Mto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are. ^( ?% |6 b$ ^" t
medical schools.! W3 ?+ ]+ [4 j: l* a- u
- q7 o2 Z& D" M- y, kEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the9 f9 B5 E" f7 ?
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
& [7 Q; i8 J7 E; `7 I, Gto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
- I, Z) ^ @4 h& Iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- M( [9 j7 l( Z$ v" Y: Z1 _! C% Jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# }" n6 b* o+ E# x
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There& t6 t( S" M5 X- |# z, U
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
! n* A7 }) p- U ?+ mmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
% ~! G0 l% O( d) g& y4 {shortage which the government is addressing by converting some3 e: V2 T) v" [
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
/ m: u3 t7 Y2 Rprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 f+ \6 i7 w; M8 y2 u
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) [3 u6 n5 `5 X% X" `5 n
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
( g" R$ d7 C' G" _& Wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby8 p F' [% u9 B
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
4 T( @" P$ P. `0 g& Z& bdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
" A) m4 D$ z1 |$ H XDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# n7 _3 ?/ Q' S* v
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
2 a. G* [5 t$ Gcharge the fee defined by the state.
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8 s7 B4 ~/ {5 [There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: V# w( [: f5 }. U
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
) R7 \+ q; e5 Y) i v$ cof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
( }/ O b3 f3 Y, L; b6 v- ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel9 r- x" }3 r% {4 ^3 B0 f( s
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
& H: Z0 C. n- yworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
) i' @: O1 J' Q. i4 S2 @! z! rschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
; k% [1 f7 F( U0 qyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% L Q! A; T3 E# z3 h
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch2 E y8 [) v' q, e
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 \) i, ^' {. L5 }, L# N$ y0 e* ?
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 i4 l; u- y. \4 v4 U! Tto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
8 a( O/ o& b% x" d: I; [% Y8 ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 M. z2 j! f% l F7 T8 ?$ i# t
are spaces.
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% Z: [) Z# K$ \9 x/ u, B# uThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi% ~9 W; y" D6 D" {! g5 s0 z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they4 Y# w9 u n6 q" K! F
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the2 z5 F$ J3 n* a% @9 B, S
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
* V0 M" W9 E" ^3 G5 nparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
' x- x9 [5 _ [7 p" s2 ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
* |) z5 b# u% K- Z9 L- W' ]nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
4 h8 ]0 C/ U/ t+ W6 L! x1 Ocar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
9 {4 a; @" D9 x1 b1 p3 cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 t( v- v5 W A# h/ Y) t We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
