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
; P/ h" q: K, Estandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
; U0 D! N9 z1 m4 `1 L; M5 \, Jon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,6 K& g, a# i' Y
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give# j; ~$ i/ `& w+ A1 B; f
answers to our pointed questions.4 o$ I; S. \3 T/ j+ J5 n+ k' c
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 _2 |1 U, B" Q7 v
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
+ T8 Q1 N' s. U N% fout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
* i( t3 U& k) i" ?- Q2 ?$ gfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
$ v1 Z; h# ]2 rto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
. A0 `9 u5 ]% g/ v) f# rmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# X* h3 p" i K* D& n
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants% [" q: A6 X1 Y( u! D0 W
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
! h3 A. q' H- D3 Dassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba) H. a0 A0 C7 E$ y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to$ e1 }2 ?1 {$ s1 F
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
4 d& n8 ?! s4 O$ ~; xseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
5 i. p: ^. ~; F, amostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
3 p- D( A+ f4 Wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some' D2 Q8 T) b/ }" v) Y' s# E
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., e: v/ p1 Z: H) W0 b
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" J1 G( m, E) v$ x! z0 q
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
4 I8 L+ k ^& i8 Lsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
/ D% B0 g. U8 Q+ {: a2 dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% \ @% N1 Y$ [: k/ i' C0 v7 S, jthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ u4 b/ J" A+ y6 \: msitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 u. r( ~' _5 @$ |9 ?
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
/ Q/ x# H+ }$ W3 q5 v! t3 g) D# QDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 t: ^9 s+ ]* z3 R/ u. _5 s* W+ ]
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 ^/ k5 o; \% n
charge the fee defined by the state.
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; I: g1 ^% c# ~/ E) b3 dThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# f% S9 e8 Z+ B! x. ~7 B
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
7 K2 d5 e- ^4 N( A5 N5 vof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big( B5 [2 V( E4 B1 {6 B$ ^
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 t6 H/ ]- G1 D5 A+ h I
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the& G# ^" m2 N/ X) x6 n- |8 t; z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on+ M0 v6 }" Q3 h; Q$ Y
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
1 n! i# w; \' q! @% ryou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ [& B c! P0 u' h% `. l) @: G
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch7 ^0 c/ T$ i/ K" ^
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that" w$ k- e4 d8 Z8 Y2 o. O
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want0 r: n* q" Q1 z, Q( `9 u
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
4 [ Q$ H% l+ h; fbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there7 g$ ~) U5 f- f
are spaces.
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' T S+ X# U3 G1 m/ D6 Y- oThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
* j4 B- }3 s& ^to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 a% _' R- z& C) _9 f/ j+ j6 e8 sown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the9 p+ W1 t7 r% t
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! \6 r; j+ V6 X. F: ~6 c
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 m- L. _! L6 a# xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
, E# x0 l# H, U. A) h, c, inice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
& t3 U$ [5 J7 z5 g2 t" ycar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* e# e" z& [7 w' N/ T+ ?8 Iis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ v; B0 a8 ?2 r/ P, K7 p We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
