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* M, u7 P r3 \2 s! V" g3 h
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
" m, @& V2 Q& |$ n+ d* v6 d8 gon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
6 G% x z. P8 ~, E"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give$ [$ w: s& m, m' g' l
answers to our pointed questions.
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8 x; ~7 l5 I. [, j& fThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ K7 M e* p5 m. I4 U4 O% D- ~45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
1 q' A6 W% D8 s3 ?0 L& uout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
* X- k9 I! w4 \' p% F+ Dfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 S3 O; J2 _( o! \3 q* }/ f9 p/ U6 I
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are3 L+ ~; n C& T3 l
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: y0 w3 c% x# v* \8 Agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
' @# i6 }# g4 l; j5 r- fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 o. w q9 i* w1 R; H
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
5 I; C' s% F& l% h: Zis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
* \2 x8 ]5 a$ A$ m6 Wover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There* U. O* d+ _ L" j+ E, m5 L
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 f0 h3 R& R$ q3 k! P' m1 A
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 p5 G2 o( P+ @shortage which the government is addressing by converting some6 e4 v# w7 g' R" F# e5 k6 M/ m
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.9 g$ D. o8 Z" R. T5 k
2 Q9 P3 l: r! |3 g4 LThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 N( h$ ?* P6 G; \
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and/ D! K* n/ A2 s) u: f# y
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! H) Z+ T$ Y( S1 _3 u9 }6 o. U5 ]2 Yhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
* l* M. z0 g1 B# b% Hthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
9 K1 d& ^7 ]* a. V2 |) _. Hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
" z( w B% p- Ddivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 d. |* Z( Q" Q/ `, D3 W
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When- c5 g+ q1 N8 D: X/ O1 ?/ _
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
5 @7 y0 M. u5 z) [( m( mcharge the fee defined by the state.
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: S( z1 v! }, ^& m1 _! {( X0 {There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get& j$ ^ o% F0 ~) c& n
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
* @0 B" n4 N1 k+ Q |. A( p! y, {8 X2 Iof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: N/ t. r. \/ a" @) K. G
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 D* R( m2 t+ B8 p6 O% u
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
9 U x/ b! P: S+ z3 Hworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, V2 O O' m/ ~1 R& C
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
0 c4 i) n+ |. e9 V( wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ Y1 H: h4 g* [0 M$ u
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 \) B8 j0 M( C) |* j
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; Q4 \( h; m1 T. v# ?! ^. r
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 ~) R: m/ s' ~ M+ c) _' Q
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! p" U8 r @' z3 R$ K
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
, V) Y! W* R" n! p! X0 h$ qare spaces. O! T1 i+ G- l2 j% E: E9 v! g
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi3 |4 z0 j. |7 j( p
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
/ z2 }6 ?; L) ?* y& zown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
% B, a/ t% @/ ~/ t+ _40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different" `7 p( F2 b# k6 W
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 k9 |2 y! Q2 @; l' c( ]6 f9 C
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
6 B% ~ {4 }! R. A# j' m- Knice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 D+ _* \7 S( f, ?! c9 k( S$ ^- J
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it3 W; B) h; t9 ]: U6 x
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
. A' `& }" z$ M% B2 T$ `; a& c- c We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
