我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living9 A H* z5 t+ h3 m
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, d$ O1 T' ]0 T" i5 N- e" J/ C" |on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
& _9 r% \& I1 n2 w: b0 b0 |"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give6 m! i7 t/ ~& `7 P6 f( |
answers to our pointed questions.
0 _! T8 a; f( b. I) U2 l7 c* B- ~/ i/ k: u. q
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
' @& ]5 c6 j, R7 G3 E) D$ R3 {45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
5 f! T f$ Q' W5 p/ Q% bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 ]3 |" d" u7 b1 D- \+ v1 _
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
- C( u: A0 S) @. h/ {4 E/ f. Kto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ B2 g7 l2 P. N0 _" q% Y+ }
medical schools.
4 y h% M* [% k% o" L+ M' {; x, U9 @
( x8 U& m3 E3 x' L' K5 |& pEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the) ]2 n" \, ^: N6 A9 L/ z6 w$ M: E
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
" g$ l2 [* w* v& B* d3 oto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years* q' u6 }. m" {. Y' h8 k
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
) V- K% i. Y% Q2 w; h% e7 u* Eis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
% R' n+ H' h8 Q+ E5 \& sover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There. m4 q+ R" K2 f: m/ _1 v) D' O5 \: A
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and7 [. g7 n, V( L8 h l9 t4 s
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 ^2 e1 y' H3 [
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 ^. g3 i1 |5 B7 d3 O3 K
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
2 H/ M" r# c6 O( \4 `$ v
$ a; p, W6 y9 S8 m3 c* ZThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. a: ?( m: a, _& T7 X2 Gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
+ V/ F. t+ R! G$ C3 X* Wsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
; f+ E7 s! i3 s; dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ H; V# Z2 k9 [& ^( I' ~+ |thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby0 g) V4 M6 T+ \$ z0 F0 \% e) r: P
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
2 R, t2 K5 U6 w% I7 mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
! S9 C) [2 f9 f; W/ i4 a2 JDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When6 j& l& ^( F: z& f0 J+ J
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
" m; C, v h% T ~! d6 _charge the fee defined by the state.
" k" x: x e- s: A& D# y) T
- J5 M, C* n3 ^/ {$ ^- ]There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get4 v* u- N: A" `1 b
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" s$ \/ @$ `8 a' h) F$ H1 b& |" {
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& k) [+ w$ U8 b1 M: Z$ d9 h
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel5 D( _( s1 ~2 e, c9 X
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the2 o( U2 m) k1 q8 r, t
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 g& C- A0 C' Q3 Z; U0 T- G% H
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if0 w4 g" b$ s: F& F$ I0 x
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
% I% i) c& O: Strying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
5 a& K. |7 v- ? B( i' H% h5 Y8 lhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
( ^5 `+ i7 a3 o9 |0 speople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) V- a$ g4 @0 ^$ f. Jto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or: I! p! X# E' A: I# {$ I8 K; z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 d. A9 O5 X) I
are spaces.
- k/ U& P. K2 a1 ~2 F# D! Y1 M% K1 |
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi ?- @- y* }6 E$ {. u. I+ q8 ]6 i
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* h4 t7 e' w9 T& k, {" i% b8 |
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 `$ p5 m v6 g/ \1 N
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
* C& C0 W9 [4 |4 I( H' g# C0 `- Bparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the' p8 ]4 [; I. o* B
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
$ K) p; R9 q% M0 F3 U$ Nnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of% _9 t: A1 ?0 x; Q# T3 f* ?+ e9 i- n
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
0 ~' g6 K% }9 i) K, l* vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.* T: P4 X4 j0 q: i5 I9 _5 b3 u! O8 x, X
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
