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
! T( z2 w: m X i- |standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
) I) f) _8 `2 {5 \8 Pon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,5 m9 @5 w$ X& a7 z+ A
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
) C2 x6 ?, q- ~answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 | f' B( W2 X& I2 _! K- o45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand/ X' T, ?7 w7 J' c9 v; ]1 }
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
$ C% M' C0 }; S+ q {free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 J# m0 M. h' O* a4 [( Mto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are$ H: U$ `: h, N% L" i
medical schools.
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& Y ]/ N* m( s, ]# C! i; f- OEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
) @& @0 A% W) b' [( p2 d5 wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! e2 n$ y. Z' W4 x& Q" c; C
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
b( q0 Y$ ]( E5 zassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
8 v8 w5 I# A$ N+ ?; y! ?$ e$ E* m# bis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 u+ q4 L0 \, G ?
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, _& m" Q$ J2 l2 i3 s
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
# f5 M9 M: |* r5 L. ymostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 ]9 a+ |, w9 \. Z* i! r* M
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 s R% M# |, V; { k+ F7 X
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.; s. O/ d+ i! Z5 x0 p) F/ p
$ d! l" k2 }/ g1 t4 h' R4 b+ XThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
$ c' K0 P1 }( J- `8 u1 H) ?% ]1 aprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and0 E; Z% G" q# K5 L4 e5 F- A% q$ A/ y
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people& s$ O7 x [0 k, K' }/ \# d! V; C
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good+ P, Y# m, {) k$ K' u
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby4 J5 A3 X) I; Q2 i O
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high" z2 ^% U4 e/ `( u. [! U/ A
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
: g5 ~6 t& q2 u. [% NDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
/ x4 S: w7 L( Ua lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only# T2 f9 a2 Z3 O/ w: P- N. C# \
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get& t M; K: ^# `: y
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! k; p' A* [1 ~ U' A7 k% N0 Bof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- L' ]! ]3 G: c$ {1 T# c3 T
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 W) h6 ^5 t9 ^$ ]
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the7 J/ D; |( m) D( E, E
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' ^0 ~5 r% X8 Y R1 g/ ?1 z6 [
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 B2 N6 O q& s* l8 P1 B- U
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people, u9 C7 _, A* j- A5 M$ ~+ ]/ O
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# o3 V. e) g! y( S* R, U& w0 b' _6 H3 Lhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; q3 p9 w3 ^( E* u
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) {/ J0 y( O, ^
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ `/ A* C- ^5 S/ a7 l" R' {
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 J/ b% H1 Q; k; a0 ]! g# o: oare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ u6 ^4 E4 t$ i+ K% Q3 A
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ w3 w; R! i1 |own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
4 Y) Y' b9 z2 c: P5 [$ P$ ^1 q40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different7 i/ `2 T y/ D5 f0 z
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
4 X3 Y1 f* g1 n. Abest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ N0 j+ }' \6 y" x/ i9 H4 Y
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 Z& ^3 T/ V" O/ Q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
- ?* R1 {* u7 cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
, {) s7 \+ y! c/ @4 @0 V; V We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
