我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living3 ?' v) s: ]- c+ T; G
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went/ e$ g ]* M2 w0 _- Y+ x
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 {9 m; H' ~; a* I: H
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give x3 z" g6 Y" ~3 n( m
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,6 w: V' A5 [6 k' `, @2 {
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
! {+ L& q; [: Z! Vout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
2 h7 w; [) I3 |) |0 Z. Ufree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 z/ P1 O, \6 F0 _! d
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 ~6 F0 O% \& b3 f- R
medical schools.5 x" N( z, E% w+ d, I4 [
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 {) ]) Z: s! `# l
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants" G' B1 }, [% Z3 ~) b0 ?$ |
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
1 b4 c& A6 h9 w N/ _0 X$ xassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, ~3 _6 r; M- B7 [* T8 dis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
, J2 p/ C. t0 [9 j$ E3 aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There/ v t4 G9 t7 i! }5 i T
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
4 I. R/ g& e( x, P7 i0 S% R- ?mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ A2 c% e/ } k: O: b! E
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some3 Y6 f3 ]( H1 R6 a4 I' ?
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.3 X1 p0 Q. J8 @$ A& m1 R. a
# V! |) I( R, z8 [, ?( jThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 N; A: G, v6 Y8 m" F7 z
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and/ W [$ d+ z& s# M& o& A7 T( ?) m# c
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
5 {( N0 I- J' [' a5 vhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% n# T, ^% b. t+ P$ Xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
) o# ^0 R5 @: \- p. ?9 B* Lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
# c9 ~+ V8 ~1 bdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.! R! q/ F: q* R5 i9 }" F
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
, A' s$ m4 n* c5 [, @7 I, Ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% s0 P4 c' G a9 M) {8 ]3 k
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ G! @7 N, p/ V- L
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
& K, c" v$ C; e7 P6 K# |( Kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
7 ~1 n# f5 [. R1 }3 utruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
' S% j0 Z7 Z! T/ ?seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' y: r7 K; K Y9 a
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on7 H" l! N: {/ j; G" y
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if' E* E( b, _; `! T$ W
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people T/ P& c5 i X' ?2 }% ^
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' y0 N; k- @! a5 ~' c
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
! z! Q6 T* }! ~" y- t: X0 Tpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 |2 f& |4 q' `# ?" V
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
5 P. c5 a8 i# s" R! Y0 o* M4 X/ Rbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
8 D5 N7 U) H; n! F7 ?. aare spaces.
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1 t0 I3 M5 H6 hThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! A1 \, h" D% ^8 {7 @6 Z# Ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ V* z, A" |% a. H
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the9 I7 M& j9 Z* i
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& \, C! b: e5 y" F/ C( G! D& ?1 C
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 `* Y5 A1 c! Bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
~$ M/ c' E# X. i; y5 }nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
2 y1 ]- t) y; G- H- Ycar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
/ b5 d* O5 h, [4 M/ d$ O7 h5 s6 ~is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ t n: {% _3 j
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
