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; w2 A' S6 Z) _' @$ q
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
2 Y+ y4 d; |) L- X3 w$ Pon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
4 ]* W' Y# Z! H2 H* l"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 f3 g6 s n. M
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
+ Z& p# W) ]: q% }, R8 D! z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand/ s# j3 p0 |1 Z4 J
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is& P# B) B/ `. Q; l1 r
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
* h. f; e" P2 P% ato get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 m0 D) w7 K' X: P. A! Jmedical schools.
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, Y- B( W8 B+ Q$ S @, [Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
9 T c8 N% E7 ngovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
& l4 m9 G1 S- p% l: l t( _to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
* H' R3 k0 }9 u, @2 F: ^: L- nassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba3 N- R7 D8 N: L4 L# J
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
0 [7 I2 o) j+ T( z7 L4 tover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There/ Z/ x2 F. }# F, U+ u$ G: @
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
- g8 I H0 q1 @4 ]mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& w% M. x4 D, A7 T9 G, O/ nshortage which the government is addressing by converting some/ ?8 W9 O) j" n; U) I8 D
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. S3 L$ P; o' e. c2 u5 a
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
3 n# @# t8 V" d/ lprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( h: {: R/ m! w: p! L% ^
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
4 G5 ~4 z4 L9 C% Uhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
5 H( O, F! }5 Q1 H# x8 ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ m6 W, G/ j) ~0 {! _
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
# `' {+ T$ {0 B% X9 A* ^divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 ]6 Y- M7 y, m; }$ h4 f& R
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; t& b' g& n$ S9 e: x' C
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
! t' S3 n* T/ F& n" K" qcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
f* x; ^3 a1 l3 J: don), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
' e! a) G1 ]4 \8 z* z5 u* [2 Wof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! w" k. Z% W5 T7 J5 ]& c; K/ vtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
7 k( c# b2 i0 H$ ?seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% p [3 P% \ M* N8 }working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on7 w7 A8 I: y9 t) |! I+ u9 f
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! o+ v. s% W' g& i7 D E, ]- l5 h
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people( m+ Q) N8 h: `4 M% H0 a! q
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ d1 G1 x3 p! M9 I9 g! { l
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that8 f. G( [; N# R$ U, {5 p5 G6 y' I4 L
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: {% v# w" R& D- ]; [8 q2 `
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
* @! p7 K2 |# c4 ebuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there8 M% L0 p) L( o! Y
are spaces. g, i; t6 Z5 f+ F. X* f
, @7 ~4 l$ o; S7 a( EThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
0 ~7 [ x- H7 V0 @to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
2 ` X J+ H9 y3 t- y+ Qown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
# k* D% j2 `- s1 J! ]( P6 r40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
) ~$ c0 Z2 Y9 x) ^# O* fparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
: W1 [' \. J5 i1 e, L% Jbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
' f& J7 V6 X( ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
% Y+ v8 c" g: p4 Jcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it1 q- B/ B1 {! W3 ? R: c
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 b: R3 U q; T/ t We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
