我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living3 I* s3 x; E0 l5 Q( W& }: Q% L
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 a# C* S W; h* w
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
; o1 g {9 m3 ?8 z$ G6 X"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
& H# |4 n* K' Y" s; {7 janswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) V. r; s1 Y: r' o2 m
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# @/ m0 D' B' @/ E5 O
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
6 |* a# O" y; U/ R/ Bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
) E5 E! Z" O3 r6 O5 U+ U% ato get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ M/ M# @4 W' ^6 gmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the$ `, U; u& j* ~& S' P0 A
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
3 d! [0 A4 p& N/ I$ Z/ P rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 }5 e# n4 m O% ~6 C0 T& h( q X
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: T9 c# m1 ^2 B$ V8 `3 p9 T
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
2 G6 G. n( c+ x4 r# rover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There7 e& Y& I6 X% p+ n8 A0 q# v
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and/ O$ Y4 o* Q: n" H+ @4 @5 x9 d
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( M" j0 b @6 b7 |9 J5 a
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
2 w: S2 C; a" M( }4 u# Z2 s2 S5 Z* Z0 isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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6 b9 o2 u9 x0 `2 ?7 v4 A0 U8 W2 RThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
, F: {* _ B, d- b1 p7 L! I" ^private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and8 O F# _8 h! u1 k) C
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 A( o% ]% w. D p
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
( M) i- Y% e2 c; mthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
" b9 U) @5 H d# i3 xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: p; g3 U+ F8 v6 C! A1 F
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.& A% Q1 O2 L. ] g& \9 d
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
j9 Y% u& s) P5 g5 c, k* b5 Ba lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
5 ~! |& t' |" [+ @) x; dcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
# o! ^- D8 Y% mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
; t% F9 m0 b+ j6 s. C9 |8 Nof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; W3 G* K( `3 a Q6 D! g, j
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel; X6 C# c* O0 n$ w
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the7 ^3 Z/ S" Z. j# _) d7 \
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 L: N9 R. Z: i- V
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
7 R$ P2 q; J* D# g: Q% k, r# ]you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
4 U) t2 m/ I; G& S, mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
, {0 z; l& v2 Ehiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
) c! V$ W+ p y) G, N, ?people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want# k9 N7 ?, I# l9 {
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
) s$ U* m6 ^+ ` y( n) r) Zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
. R1 b. D! ?' s" j/ E2 h d# sare spaces.& |4 I# Y( j K0 s
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 F( Z7 R0 K2 ~9 w- T+ g
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they ? N; W6 X" g- c" _) H
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
1 b' N' \7 i* r* P6 y q40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; s: _' j; l* D
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 K! J" \3 ]/ R# f Nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
. Y% m9 T( \# W( U" ~$ m3 knice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of! J2 h9 t4 b* Q& { V+ Q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
- @: V1 }. a9 S+ Tis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ a0 R+ z% Z) Q6 T0 I6 ^9 ]/ [7 k We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
