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
% ~' R0 @8 }( c" e0 C' Qstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
5 ^4 Q7 i9 g* mon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,( f% f% K1 ^9 y& [. U
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give P c: n, Y3 f. x
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
; W! X1 F. e7 ~$ @" p45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
! ?; J3 B- x; M/ l P! W* x+ [out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- U, R2 I E; Q! S1 y `
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
) ~; |, i2 o4 {/ E# Bto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are2 L8 I( {6 A3 @9 _7 s5 |6 J" {
medical schools.3 B! @. m8 M6 ]+ e+ W; w' ^5 Z! I
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the- [' J1 j* L% u5 u
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
0 y! i$ c4 Y5 @! Jto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years7 ^) Z$ v' j0 w" h4 B
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! s# U; L5 J% _7 E9 V- {is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; Y- A2 i5 f! s) }0 I
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There( c( R' g* S# v) g
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
% i" `5 F, ]6 _- smostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( o! o# F& z; ^$ z9 I
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, p( o+ v: {0 i; zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.5 {+ ]! ~* G% ]5 g* v7 S# f [
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
5 V- v6 x! k: i+ U$ zprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 b* J% i: D4 i! \* b! A
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people( O! w3 I% R7 i* h" Q7 m1 d
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
- [) i' v" @6 |) l% Gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# e5 @4 a: D9 g* W4 `1 E- usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; R: [+ U# n' b) b4 u
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.1 l/ L: D8 E2 `5 U( o+ N
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
0 P ]+ t9 _- z9 [a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. g7 S# g$ P$ B" c4 N+ e
charge the fee defined by the state.
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1 l/ Q# D7 v6 ], T" oThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
4 ~; J& n4 G) e3 @on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ j! B- {, w' y; K3 a3 j* A, D* |of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
3 D' O. h- B5 W1 z- L" c) U& otruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- |! i! Y; Q; }1 s% K4 d- \( i
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the0 U0 {4 b3 j1 [0 M r6 N
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on1 H: d6 O5 Q% w. u" h* c
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; k; G0 a2 U8 K1 w% E* D E+ |
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people; G" g2 q; E- z7 t$ M
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" x7 g. q+ z% g; d4 W* Z1 G2 @
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
+ r) g Y7 |, ?" Ipeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want! T% D4 U3 i& j( `$ {
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
$ @2 X4 B6 o: ~ N y) {' t, Rbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ V) [4 M, W$ d% h
are spaces.* @0 m; C) e0 K# H$ |( L) Y
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
- v4 Z g% K6 ~5 F2 F" E+ Uto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& t. _7 M' P# H: |5 Y" P
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 o0 j: ^& R$ A; R. c! l$ q) p \
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
1 S5 [1 i4 r* T; b; T9 ]: w" ^parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
4 S+ J, E: R$ Y' x9 z! v7 ^best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; [0 I* Q: j' @
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" n1 ~) Y$ t" x+ l& F. B
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' `! j% P7 ^3 L: V' X# l$ L
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
& I! P+ \+ b5 o' k6 i We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
