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
) L6 X$ H! c. H9 K! m$ ]! i% Ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went! U' s. s# k6 ^) ?6 Y' @
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,7 U6 m6 y- G/ f$ I" @
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give- Q1 b% y3 K9 t: J' h4 Q5 Q
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,$ J4 Q* Y" j( |$ Q3 l/ U
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 u- `/ a* {/ O( b" Y, n3 A
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is, g, i& p$ }4 G! l; Y" u
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 G' F9 y) T v5 Ito get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 Z$ _" `( t7 G5 f
medical schools.+ U$ ^$ }2 L3 n+ X
# p! G4 {* _& `0 w4 @+ {0 uEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! _: q$ c- D0 D- o9 C% O9 d \government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants3 D* M& Y+ P8 o
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' N) }- ^5 V9 b. m$ Gassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba0 v1 N1 X( ?6 s1 y/ c. |1 E* L5 y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to' |) L; T6 m2 l) k8 ~
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There7 D D6 s! G+ J$ N7 S }
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
5 G, E0 y) ~( N9 V- i) ?/ Mmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
) k9 r+ y* T7 i7 w9 [6 P8 \3 ?% zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, M3 L+ f4 L9 h1 B3 z1 J2 ?( T, }sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.% L) d3 a! ~6 ^6 I4 i
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 p" D: O4 e$ ~
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
, @5 S8 z" V$ K+ w+ ?supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) q/ b3 z: [7 M$ A2 ihave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
: }" Y! r* Z9 O/ ^# zthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
/ S6 e% C% ~: y( \sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
" `7 C) \0 f" R+ Ydivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.. Z* P6 n- O0 K* p% U1 }
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When7 v4 p& A( p0 ^
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only4 B) y7 l0 O3 Y! N- E `
charge the fee defined by the state.) K$ F X$ v3 p( j
5 y9 O& L2 J+ U! n9 kThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get( T8 r) v5 T' n, [) H( h. z
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# l; L6 o; y$ h
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
* |3 p {6 M: S: }* ?* w7 ]# otruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel' V5 ]( X; I" g1 K _! U4 z' n# e
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
. o" T( y2 f* q& k3 ^8 c! }working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on0 e. y( o$ f( ~5 {* ~! [8 o
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% k1 {! D% B5 r2 _
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
; m R! M" U8 g/ Y# Q: t* utrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
' e# c2 G# K$ s2 d9 [hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that" p! ~3 n/ _7 Z3 y
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
2 ?" B7 e8 O2 \" F/ }to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or# ~. J+ ^- {* x# e( E
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there/ O: G! K% p, K; q. K7 r( M
are spaces.
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9 Q; s& k7 l+ I; y( c- X' k7 RThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
" `( t/ n2 Z' |& xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they6 F d! o L* y" G$ R j
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
8 Z* K3 Y8 y& r& T5 B/ X40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" T! D5 j. w5 E# Y# j$ dparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
5 \' i% A0 F A# J) k5 ~- k& |! tbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
y6 V6 y2 O; C% x0 r# j4 g1 znice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
, W* D! @ ^6 \% c/ P4 tcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, j# G" N, `$ c; s1 r1 }
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- A/ i9 A! m6 @, [' [ o) A9 y
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
