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
0 Z( r9 m0 ]+ G6 Q5 ~: B. K* gstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
; q* o& S* E* J) c! L- w7 y( won a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,1 M( @& k0 y. \# o7 `* z5 G
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& ?7 L* @" n1 w: d$ S: [0 S" I" @
answers to our pointed questions.& q I" C7 d8 @8 K
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. F% h7 g- i# D2 {: \, l9 z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand7 C; R8 o( Q+ N
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: n! {( n: @; P* L% g( h0 l2 Vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams7 n( }2 L$ \7 ~7 g. A
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; P9 {: Q* v: Bmedical schools.
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% a# @3 m3 X `Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
# N. o; N- H. W; N: J7 h+ Ogovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& n7 a; N$ A" [- O5 I3 H5 A
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years* y- `& Z* U& A9 E' k! O
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
O9 g% X$ ]* Nis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 `) Y, v& s s) \) V& N% E( f( Sover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There( D, N' m( l B7 z! Y, ?
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 z4 u3 p+ w+ J& ^7 J
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
0 c1 G' _& _4 I, q s( [/ kshortage which the government is addressing by converting some4 ]- O- c5 A& m: h! w* `. t6 G
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ w( f8 [0 P4 R: s% j& d
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ d ]' R1 }, ^% X5 _& ~
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
1 Q7 e3 i" H2 Y5 R( Bhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good/ S o1 k9 y$ Z, k2 l( P. U
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% H5 A+ S7 E4 p d* _8 U+ Lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, f/ S7 h2 P. F" u+ _divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.* U! I: r/ F% F9 S0 h6 C( F
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 \/ v5 O- D V6 W+ Q* X' J: Da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
0 h; d! h7 S9 t# e- i" Gcharge the fee defined by the state.
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! v+ ^( n' b UThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 A2 J4 A4 g0 [+ |. @" B
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ U) r/ V3 C' _8 Bof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big* f& @& P5 V( h; u6 I, f( j( V" o
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
( W1 p4 ^$ @* O* W: l# }: hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
6 Y! i- n; D2 Y7 [working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on- w5 n O0 {; d5 ~/ |1 B
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& a7 v7 i" d" Y1 ~) U) a6 E
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
! l$ e0 s7 l, O' t! _" Z/ strying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# y8 r8 ~* j7 i* L9 L3 e& E) X$ hhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that1 b* m8 K* ^+ x' u# a
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
8 e& ~5 f9 S7 B4 X3 ^to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
- R# f/ Q- I" b- w& o G6 Fbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# c2 G. P L/ N$ c
are spaces.* a t4 `* }( k7 v" g
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi8 x! E# u# S# x! c! W6 H
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& b( w0 r" K- }* x
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) r0 ~: d i) i1 A
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different. ~- W0 a, y; h4 q1 d4 G! i
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. s& w+ J5 u% h# }9 `8 P$ O4 e, N8 N" `
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 R b* K2 n5 c2 p
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of, r2 K, Z. I1 [
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
3 x2 H" \" P- ]6 e8 D. }7 nis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 |& p$ b% U9 t* E0 \) Q4 u5 y) ? B We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
