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& a+ {+ X5 y8 p
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went* q5 W, H) ], r+ F
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
2 g, l" F! @, q* n/ z2 V( Q"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give2 ]! N' \" N% v! l% I/ \
answers to our pointed questions.1 d; g) S6 D A, y
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
/ v) s! o. s O: S c0 |45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% I* G8 X! w6 q$ K ^: M
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ r: B F" w X$ `: {8 m
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams& h3 H' @! ~7 n
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; \/ h2 ]$ J- y! F* k F! ^4 B/ hmedical schools.0 C$ ~4 D* I1 i* _6 o
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
. a7 P1 E F# Z, C1 W$ t- }government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants+ Z, x7 C/ K+ o2 o' S
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years n9 e, z8 e& \; _, p6 @) h
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba# {1 V& S9 w8 ~) t0 d! f9 U
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; V0 [' E$ M8 D& W6 d; y- N
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" [ s& p* h( X7 o: n- X, m6 ?
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 o% P: G5 s3 W4 p# c& b9 d# H* {
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 g+ @& ^8 Z; x" m) M
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some) J, v! c# v$ J3 `
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 ^ a7 H' I' `
- T) e+ F$ Y% I5 Q# k4 R6 ^The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" h' |, Z$ O& o, P# e1 p
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
4 z- g7 F( S7 u2 ~, o8 @% M Q& @supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
6 o. Y/ } R g" R9 xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good( ^- u" }) {6 m3 ~
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
& D" p7 w# M# x& v& t3 Gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
Y" p3 U9 e& `divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* n: _' z7 I# L' oDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 R) G6 [3 w5 a7 V$ ~7 a _. `1 U3 O( K$ Za lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only4 V2 q7 z5 q+ U% b9 q
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get. X: a( o6 X' q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type) z9 E! q2 e, f. @
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, k+ M1 k; B& S( ytruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, E( q: e P9 W+ w
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
6 ~( D* k5 U6 S9 ^working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
& S: G: F" a8 Z% R* vschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ W. e: y; _" ~; T* t! ~4 n
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people' c4 z; g& P% k% M% D/ i- i
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
, d$ h$ T7 k: h7 y- Y% s5 ahiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# ?, D! @* s. L- I+ A
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
8 _0 _) T! v3 i1 {) r) Qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or+ |* }) @$ A/ i9 Y
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
; A9 N: X9 O; b& o: N+ X& Tare spaces.
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" `7 H( ~! \! d3 r5 fThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
8 n2 j3 @1 Y" d* E5 e" R6 @to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
6 r* f) J& B4 Z& y( l+ `2 y2 j) Q; mown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the0 R! L6 ^- w4 A' Y% y
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different" k7 t* P2 v) ~) u
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the+ R' i. w3 B& T% E; D1 j4 L0 ?0 O6 n
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' B% W& p ]: c6 u4 m1 L2 t7 T/ E
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 ~4 X0 [! y! s" S8 k/ Hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" T I1 K% R0 J6 e; H, o Vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 w. H, g; P5 G& @- X$ \2 Q
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
