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
4 ?, K0 l8 q/ W' V2 qstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 f `' X! Y2 G% o3 g1 [7 o. `
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,1 @2 Q9 M2 {1 K, ]6 a, y2 ?9 W
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
; i. l; r& w* z; p9 H& {8 oanswers to our pointed questions.
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7 _; }$ W9 l& q+ x" D8 _9 mThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
t4 l/ e/ ]* V% o9 N45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) G' g2 b/ Z; z, Z! I: X, uout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is; t7 v$ i* _4 N
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 t+ ^. \1 |" B; Y7 O1 x2 [8 g
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are+ N* N6 G: I" @% E% F" {) V1 [
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% g* t5 @( X+ v# O0 m
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; x% |& |7 _, i- Fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
6 i a' L) ?) z" D: {! N3 fassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& h( w- g r# W6 Gis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# f& h: g: m! D
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
B) C( d; T( S% U7 F# Xseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
# x, w0 r$ n' v, Fmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: I; Y1 m9 @2 M( k3 w( [
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some6 c! B* l! E q- x- D+ o0 Q
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands./ C, n# k: W; V. E9 Z
+ z& q2 n6 C% w: o `' C \The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 A4 j2 c9 o# z
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
' P6 U" D& D3 _6 esupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
8 N" j# w$ [6 n3 O. N3 v' Phave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 f' y- Q0 K* d- k+ a5 i
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
& {$ R1 ]5 H7 U. X5 @$ U, asitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. Q, V0 e7 G$ n& g
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ m% [) \0 u" Z: s- JDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, Q; z" N) b0 n, |( c8 Z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
4 n) @6 W. b4 o3 L" _ m. C& mcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get. [( k* I8 B1 m7 H% b, n' Y0 k
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
" U8 s1 I% Z9 `9 T3 S) Oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: C" F: t% J! n" E2 |* A
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: U, S3 G" x3 O" k
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
u0 z1 ?# a: B. X2 W7 J5 E7 aworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
6 Z- x1 Z" M' _8 x7 q7 kschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if6 e1 \8 j8 z4 ?! ^# R( `2 c8 P/ y
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people4 @) l$ I) g7 e6 y/ N) k. U
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 a" @) ^8 D/ J2 |! E
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that$ [5 }3 |7 I" M
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 m/ y6 D, |& _6 i4 y$ E
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or/ e7 ^& k' o" @! C1 q
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
& M- J, |4 J( B7 {are spaces.
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) ?$ G- N# K+ a8 nThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" ]5 Z3 v$ \6 o
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% L# y" C7 L0 g6 Town a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
* s1 z$ }9 d$ Z6 }; A8 C40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 I; P: B6 h# O1 ^2 P4 Z8 r# m4 ^
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
; g$ B+ i& ]0 D$ p: [% Mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
! I% B4 ?, b6 f7 W8 \) Mnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
; E) ?$ g2 @6 w" i$ ucar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& {, {0 b/ ~+ X: l' m, l6 P
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
# Q+ g: F; {, Y$ y4 y* M8 O We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
