我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living0 \0 @6 G' k0 d$ H8 u
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went# \# u# i6 S2 n4 e, e+ V U
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
4 w; j1 y" K8 x/ J6 r5 l3 C"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" ?9 A6 i7 w4 O7 A) g
answers to our pointed questions.' V! m9 |8 Z. q1 _3 a+ m" w1 y
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
% J& C9 T y3 J P9 {. z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
# J1 z+ z- u7 h: [- j) r4 t7 D$ ?0 Zout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is' R2 e! \4 U" p+ T0 ?
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
U# q( k' G( Y5 Z! {5 l7 i7 n+ L% \to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& Q0 U1 X' A2 Q; M8 d
medical schools.4 c% a! G: O8 g( r7 n( C5 p+ X q
' K5 x. D* Y2 R X9 Z( pEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, e0 O0 t! N2 ~# @, P7 x" Ogovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 W% F8 Q% a2 h+ c# Eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( F9 W; w- [; @) u: i
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! X+ |% ^0 W! K' \2 L3 ]is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to5 {8 S5 o! k' K' O& `+ P4 {" Q
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* m' t1 U' I( ~4 s! {6 E( Eseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
b$ b) u; t# f& s% ]* |mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
+ `: A' o. O; ~shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
& G% G5 @ `5 f5 `- \* ^) psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 P" u( e! I I1 y, }
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 o8 v1 g* { `9 J" i" Q9 E' @
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people" \6 I/ F, G7 Y6 c8 d+ ~' ?
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good: \% `% _5 L# U6 F
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 R$ a( P1 [: R* w) ]' H! w4 x
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; U' D4 a: S$ \8 bdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* P9 a0 z2 @% O/ r+ sDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
% Y* F! g+ ]# l$ K N( Aa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
; p- H, d' \2 ucharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: p, Q" @- ?! r& f! ^6 ~ lon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! Q% j% h3 }: k) p, L& W+ p$ y
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ^# ^' z" P; B
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- q! i% f- B7 h; f3 d1 g: B
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* ~9 i0 _$ F. ?% D3 M5 S D
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on5 L- p# n0 g0 t1 o- i( X
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if* d- W' `+ J( Q4 e! I: z
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
( X' h' H( r. ]0 qtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 p9 r% B7 g. |! n# y" c- ^6 Q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ u! L9 x( {7 `& a2 X# [
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
- V4 S# C2 _! Y; k2 i3 j9 ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or. E+ V* c% b# m- A; r( w- z& H" z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ @ I. w, `# e
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
( a' |- R9 Q) `0 @2 y5 Wto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) C) q6 b! [' Y. p& r
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
7 P( A+ ^& `4 P. u1 e6 X40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
/ f. F& i ~0 G5 ^0 m4 G9 Oparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 p F; \$ u% lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few# A. ?, P; S, l+ i4 y
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
, _8 m4 ~. k/ N% i$ \car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it. Q# L0 I9 p8 l$ c* w3 C
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.4 Q0 J( ]% E! p: T& |! C
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
