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
+ |' h [3 s6 g0 W2 M$ d5 }standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went/ B; s7 T& X" Q' `4 A9 e( m
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 q, l; L, O# \# X- s
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* o% W5 S% v: Z
answers to our pointed questions.0 A/ M% g$ J4 ] b* `" f4 x
* U* {& {8 L. qThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black," u7 a3 l4 L9 P2 m8 a
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 `, o" G& O; x9 X
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is z @" e8 ?1 o9 q E1 ], E# R
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
7 z' s6 B0 T+ J' n6 V0 qto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are2 a1 t+ ]- E8 M& _& G( q E/ d% t
medical schools.
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, e: C3 v' n ^8 }# Z; pEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 z8 m7 C. _! ^5 w( ~$ O4 i
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 v* c9 z1 s* G
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years1 A( i" S' k! d, N" j* q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
6 d3 {" W% U4 F& i+ g$ n* Jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- O( R* K8 g7 w O* v& b
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% i- Q) V1 n) F8 d
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
$ W. H& H0 _9 ~: Gmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* N2 N9 }" F+ l4 G. n3 {6 {3 p0 @shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) a* c9 C3 t, [% b0 w) Esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 T$ E7 u/ p) K: e% ?8 E" m, J% W
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: n+ x0 d/ s2 a2 y* J7 u2 a- ]
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
' B6 R; X4 v4 X+ C+ v' rhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 T; s* s6 |/ v& m3 D
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby4 v, q2 i# D& {( m3 z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
+ j [* A8 O6 M1 Z$ v5 Sdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.- \8 {" y, W3 J1 H
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
6 V4 n* V6 a0 c" B( Na lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( ~. g/ t. q% [4 Y$ f" e
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 R( F) K8 P2 G3 w% l" n
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
% u3 @' a+ H8 _% @6 o/ v5 Sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big9 _/ o, M: ?: U! V
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
+ K/ L. {' Y/ W- c# {1 Qseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the5 K4 ?1 e! p: F8 u3 ]+ j
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
$ S1 b2 D7 ?* D1 qschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
\& R9 B4 I3 O, syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
+ P5 y- R. }- P Ttrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 w8 J8 K3 G6 L* v; X6 ]
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
+ r8 Q! H7 K* F0 k7 [/ T# qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" L4 p$ c1 I1 z
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" z% ^+ m9 [' T( s
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
& O# Y- ^( M* Q& f$ h) k/ v, Yare spaces.* k3 t; n5 B8 l& t- [6 p8 E/ \
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 C" w1 O: a' r9 l
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- p; _% x. f$ g, o1 u2 {2 v4 c
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
. l/ Q8 A I! M) \8 `: @, E40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 _; |( t; I3 q \
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the& |8 {+ V- O1 w! r. f
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ S' j6 @( A3 i6 m2 R* z+ n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of# @ w% I( Z" D; @4 J
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
- f# U' r( }) `/ V2 bis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! R$ a4 F' E( d( M) H
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
