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
! e; a# O! k* M1 `7 \standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
5 i, j2 I1 ]- a* y7 V) w- V9 Fon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,- w0 r1 v, T! f
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 q" z f1 ^9 q2 {
answers to our pointed questions.+ T0 H) o# t; N1 ?& T- Z" q$ E
* e5 Y0 r$ c3 S: o9 b3 H: o, wThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,4 o7 Y6 d' ]5 `# J
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand7 y# [6 v8 b* }& a3 P4 x; o5 n) M8 \+ k
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is5 w; L6 L+ l0 x8 \3 _5 Z. y: f
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams0 p; f% y- P7 d' ? J( Q6 Z
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( y5 F9 |, z& _! w5 X5 \+ c
medical schools./ |$ ], T9 f0 ?) _% {: i
1 x* y6 N) B% D+ b4 iEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 A6 o# a: S' z0 t; Z c7 P
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
" ^9 W. \5 o( Z+ r @- I" Ato go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years1 P& M" w( W+ r3 z3 a
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 A9 e4 v6 ~) l* o" C( K
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
- o" Q8 E+ g8 u' B0 B" `. kover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There# {8 Y( ]7 G- h: s. P* G
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) B& {- p* Q# K
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk2 N( t. O c9 `0 D- T+ y, k' ^* I
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 u4 L w" U6 H# tsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
4 u! L' _$ l; I, A4 o# e; u3 Fprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
5 F3 v1 B5 L$ vsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
: y; F$ ?3 q4 M# _1 U+ shave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good7 Q5 `% C% v7 `" a
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby1 r+ l8 K/ E8 B" O8 c7 c: Z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( g3 w! C) e8 `4 T, Z+ H
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
h" W1 l: H4 ]2 x- |8 \Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
/ J7 a- L6 ]8 sa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 V' m) E4 y- V# l
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
; g6 B6 W+ ~- ]3 ^2 c; T* Won), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
8 p0 Z1 U: w `. p9 g: j( dof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
8 a& m# A# J5 K- o+ Gtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel" U. a* R7 b8 I
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
( B& H+ T+ U, t+ Y" D5 m. W3 ~/ Vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
' ~* Z `7 s6 y' L3 z5 b: I8 tschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
" ?; W0 d l' V+ n& N. @9 |you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* V5 h* w5 L+ ]1 U) I Ptrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. Y. e3 z' [0 b
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ s; b6 W" L! u
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( l. \& k" `4 _# f9 \to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
2 ^8 G% | s* X# t$ i8 ]buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; k" c; }6 C4 `+ }6 B9 o9 c. Z5 ~
are spaces.
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4 N9 x( Q1 Y2 B3 }$ cThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi# \+ B e5 @2 p5 Q; A7 L
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) h$ ?6 J- G1 G: D2 n: Gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
f* A9 N4 k' D% p8 K! K2 E40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different, w( c5 _& o1 u: Z0 y+ H
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the; z/ |: Y( [' N: V6 `8 p( v
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 ? D. ?, P" I$ U- inice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of' [- d" {9 o( F9 r6 |0 X
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it; w4 K1 @, t+ k
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
1 @" K. Q% @, n7 u l We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
