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$ s8 j/ g# b" B5 Q' ?, g0 _
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
! d8 d2 ]: F, A/ g" C- a- non a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,( k2 t& p1 o) R$ ^# _& k6 K9 b+ z
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
" T' c! c+ }3 h6 c& Banswers to our pointed questions.
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, ?1 `* }* y$ w. o& U4 B8 s9 lThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
( f# r7 O& g5 |) F- N: R45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
, O; J: _1 r( y9 ~out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is/ C4 \/ N i* ^1 @5 I. [- z
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
9 I8 C. s( p1 yto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
7 \0 Y. B- [- |* Y& y0 _4 ?medical schools.& W+ ?) c- Q" d$ ]0 O: N1 R8 B
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: D+ u* d% [; u M4 Ygovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
. W+ g: X& \# Xto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
. @0 C* r; {+ U4 {assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 ?+ a$ `- H. W+ D1 W. q: C: w
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to9 h( o1 Q9 D7 K: z- B2 n1 z6 T
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, F4 w' Z5 h6 s# M! {% j) wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and8 y2 ~4 e# _& v }
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk7 f$ q: i9 a5 }+ x8 q& N- J
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some& t% s0 S6 T1 }) i" \
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands." s: J, j0 i m
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" A$ @" T; z3 y5 t/ b n
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# N" h4 E S# T o8 ~4 M1 _
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
2 T6 j, ^& `" W! I/ thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 w( h- u5 b1 |4 i
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% I U8 i5 H" `3 E7 }) r7 csitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& |! q9 q( }) V& u& ]3 p: }5 c5 `divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
, c+ T. G" o1 s3 e$ z4 CDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, r3 i9 b3 G' q# C# h# D/ ?& r1 x% y& {
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
- [) Y7 V& m2 I8 f& ycharge the fee defined by the state.
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4 U# s) D. s$ Z, i! i& oThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: [: N% ]2 Z7 Y" `) W% g4 kon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! B6 x7 a9 x1 V# w7 Eof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; S( `/ j' P) K/ ~$ N0 F: T
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
' p1 P0 r( e8 T3 f( n+ `seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' U8 u S- P" y4 a
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' p9 D) E4 [6 q; a6 V: \) t9 G x
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 m) \7 ]' t- n. f
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
7 \8 o1 ~+ x: v4 A; O, Xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch; C2 W: I. y$ y2 B, g
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
! Y4 h# H& B6 N$ gpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want% R) P0 g2 M4 ]* M+ p
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
5 Q2 E5 G4 c5 v+ X! Ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, N; |' [% d9 j; Z% s4 G5 _: W
are spaces.$ C8 e1 n# y' P8 z: G7 z
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: P7 N0 a- s4 n* l& [
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ y/ ]- l% z* f; A! Iown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the; @: }% e$ A, v9 E! e/ \" [7 }
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# \+ P' @3 z/ r
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the# S! Y/ Y1 v9 ]/ h# L" \
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
8 W) u' R% v9 H, m7 tnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of% @, n3 \5 z. R. n2 {% B* T; Y) e, I
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it0 T( Y, A. H* e' G' w8 L1 v
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
" v3 s+ |& `. u v7 } n We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
