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# i! w# D6 H6 q7 V' ^
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went; r7 ]# J4 t( A+ @' H
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# }0 U J; C8 _" x/ y4 Z* X"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ y9 M* M- D+ y( ]0 L( |: {
answers to our pointed questions.
3 @5 c/ O2 @( x# p/ @2 f
+ k6 F, O0 H2 ?8 G+ W3 d, }The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& l/ J# D( I( l8 d; Q2 y7 L0 E) h
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 R- ~9 g4 T3 n' E+ B$ @7 ?% s9 e2 D
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is& B& W# I& n. v G& b, {
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
- E; b4 S( q9 t: W4 f2 h! Lto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are+ Q0 }& Z( @! f S8 d
medical schools.$ o" t1 v* k' h5 C6 Z
3 M4 ]$ S# v+ h6 _# j, ^3 Y9 U
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the! d$ W3 |; P- p2 s u# E2 ~# ~5 A
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
/ c1 V4 H9 C; g5 m1 Y6 l2 Vto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
, q) Y/ l$ q, f# B9 Dassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# m& Q9 w3 g/ r4 o) ris from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 Y( I8 `2 u( @3 y8 Cover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There& n$ H" Z0 F o: g( l
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) ]& t& d- ^1 h* V7 J
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) Q0 j/ g: _# z q' ~
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some B- t& E0 R/ @9 m- q" h6 C5 w0 j; t8 j
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., X' H2 ?7 p$ c5 m; n- h: s
# s) a J/ ]% A; dThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
2 s2 L; [7 d. F8 I0 eprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
( x5 P. i4 h' W) t+ csupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
/ F" }2 P6 R. C- B7 P4 H6 d/ bhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good5 J1 l7 R( _! j- O5 b" {/ R4 H" w
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby. ?7 X; Y' O6 m K
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 i" }( H' \( \4 N
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. |- z9 N* p4 ]& ^ C
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
( a/ `* F! l( w- L' Q+ c, Sa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( G9 X: @; n7 [+ B; o
charge the fee defined by the state.
1 ?, V& `1 r+ X6 N" R
" u2 L" ?; {( Z0 W( ~- b* }There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* u$ T7 o, s' A" gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type9 X0 g1 S! K2 m& f" Y8 g
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; ~+ c+ j' @- u4 t% f8 {
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, G: X9 Y% Q% `1 Q4 Y6 H9 K
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ d H9 V8 `" h8 q
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
6 m, B3 U: D! R8 N3 U8 `6 D0 ~schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if' y6 w) q0 k$ {- S
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
# P; u) W: O4 m/ A8 \3 Mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, R9 ]: R3 b5 D( A+ y- J
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
& m. @1 K6 |6 q- T* E) Fpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want. J0 \! L8 f Q6 j7 J+ y* n- {! |, z
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or* i2 j- F! U4 g" w& n8 }
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
- l& k6 M/ y8 c5 f3 I' Dare spaces.7 l! k& |* L G" V. `' a. C7 k
* @4 ]: Y7 Y) Z$ E* z
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
/ S- n2 m2 l( c0 `7 eto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' l. j& e# L" x0 L6 O( q8 ]own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the* o2 `# Q: U, p# f# H
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
7 B; H! r- Y8 p* U# i( _parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! t( n$ x+ M9 O, ~# \+ h. E' ybest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 E& B" z) T6 C$ {& f9 R
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* T: ^. s% u" ]7 @! ]
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it; n% x1 |" L4 j" v# `* Y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
# e2 p3 C! O/ x We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
