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+ }2 C; q# a* C, s7 H* d
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
) G# @3 r7 H5 T1 r$ `: q- con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 H: B6 ~& k0 ?! j+ |. t2 y"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
# k& O( q* K# X4 G) `5 {6 e8 R9 yanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,3 s. g' |' U5 [, }) g2 x" x% j3 N
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
% ^6 {- }2 m. ]2 P8 T$ Jout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
% _& g& C% P" C1 `" yfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams! q# P; b: Y' a( Q( R5 [" C
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are$ v$ Y& q' h0 v( ?, D
medical schools.- C$ J7 G4 l5 H
6 w/ C" L! y; Z/ t8 {* M4 ?' GEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
" p$ m2 H/ u1 o; [& k! \government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants, F7 X7 @% [4 A/ p' d5 M
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( v1 y4 Y4 K$ @0 N# D
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: a7 e0 ? p1 Q" O$ j, m/ P8 t
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
1 f& f' Z; G# H) s1 F+ p9 ]over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There* |; B3 |2 Z& Y3 W
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and9 A; \* {# c0 c( U
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk. R2 ]9 ?3 @! N8 n# v
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: L% }* i. e p7 M) ssugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no2 |4 d6 H5 D) @3 z. P
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
0 e- T. z; p& g5 h% csupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
& H, ^7 I0 a, _- o0 a. chave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good! y8 ?/ [# T# [! L* q4 K1 K% o. D
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby& t7 c3 d U7 q" X6 E+ H* b
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
: K% u. l0 }( ?5 R+ Z+ Idivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 ?! l) c8 s# g! F7 r7 pDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When7 r; s$ o+ |8 O, b8 j0 L
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 p2 s s3 F, acharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ v* r0 c" F) e
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
v8 p; c' ~: y4 e+ u( P( hof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big* b/ ^* I( N6 h& x0 n* K$ h0 Z% B
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel& y( @. t4 T0 C7 P! s; `
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the0 o0 P) v3 S1 i. D/ D% I6 C& E
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
( l U; N' r7 d# o9 _( gschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if( S# w2 T" v6 h
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
7 z; P) w U& W( strying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
8 u6 S9 q( Q% U5 X7 |hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that& q$ T/ A# \ u( O! Z2 q
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want7 b1 P# n- k+ b, f& h& A6 Z' V# Z/ z5 [! v
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or/ j) O E5 \3 Z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 g, Q% u" o. U5 m% K7 H- lare spaces.) j# M; W/ y- l1 A8 x# _
7 J7 [ _. L2 Y9 \; f8 C' CThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 z7 c1 c& Z* b+ Q" K
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
- C& z7 D1 s: g: Uown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& f& _8 e- S- L) n6 G0 x( f( R( d# W
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different7 V& V8 G6 l, U: g
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 w( M. W& T, S; K3 D, L
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' X& R5 a" c, Q# p" @1 G
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of- r4 q m) ]; D& J2 ^! N3 Z
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
9 S+ Y" `, H1 h! H# V. O) sis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.3 V& e; ^" u0 b6 k* ^$ y2 L
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
