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, q! _* l$ r c3 `0 Z
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 t& A' e, c5 y2 k6 k& T
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
f/ M7 y4 O$ W% D: ]0 |, c$ H6 w"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) G+ v9 J* n, W7 j' Q- N4 P
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 ^6 r* c6 H6 k& @7 m& G! {! t+ g
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
2 e" H$ P9 N: W: B; Rout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
3 K3 \) C" ?, u, Ofree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 m2 K, N3 O7 w. Eto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 p! M7 `; d5 c
medical schools.
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, M! b: E* A: }3 EEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, D, n/ Z; O7 Tgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
/ h, B% [; v9 ~to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
" M( X$ f0 h3 U5 N2 |; K4 Massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
v ^5 G1 u9 D- Ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to1 R5 n- c; X0 H+ W0 C! ?2 H, [
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! E4 M3 g/ }6 Vseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
- |! e' m, w. L/ hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 O' ~( b# \: Q1 X1 L$ p& K
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: h& w8 e( u8 Q8 Ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. J5 P* X0 P- G! A# Oprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
6 O4 b4 l" p( N/ P4 asupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 ^4 m8 y2 Q y% W2 f' Q; ghave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
, a3 j# M, y6 h& u+ u5 ^! ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
) I' [( w. _# q5 t* d8 n! e$ v8 T& }sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high4 I; G6 F3 K; ]2 U7 R3 t( ]# t
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
% W' b u; P8 c gDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: K$ d4 n( L6 G% J3 E/ r4 ba lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
u/ @! g* s, p5 v+ B, Acharge the fee defined by the state.
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- [% h( ` U- s& I2 UThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get- X2 F7 b* y9 t) w2 Q3 A O% b$ E
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type. o U- ?* D. F
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
& _9 v3 l6 I. [) X7 ctruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
% x# R% z) J! u: O: R Vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 t* j/ O, d. l4 e1 B
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
9 D( N* h* u5 q/ M, ischedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 G6 h' Q0 `- S& w, y0 Q
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people0 {5 P: ]0 C! Q% E4 C
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
- O( P0 v2 {2 D: g4 _& `' o) e6 h& y: qhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
, T% W$ i5 e' S. Opeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 j! j( E1 e. ]- D
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& O8 q: e' O# N. nbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 W& `% u" i+ h3 Yare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 t- ~; E( ~1 q3 d7 S
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
! M' E) ~! X% O# Z2 {: cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
" E k0 H2 a- o1 g* r! Z4 O8 J40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" T. Q0 @1 u2 u4 Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 O, m2 x/ b- t0 C" Z
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
8 O# g: Y! @( gnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of, {5 B: Q+ Q6 O- S6 N
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* A2 `4 \/ {: Z9 J1 Ais a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
( T3 j1 c- X' m* h9 d( J We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
