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
# C* F3 |) `1 m8 R0 x( a; Zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
& ^5 A) y5 m1 D8 |2 |" \) ion a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' d5 |: x9 p% j: _
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) S3 r8 H) t8 e& D- w
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
& ^- v; x A) b' f5 p! I3 I4 r45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand- z) z; p" v5 s! b( m0 l! z+ x
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
8 E; f# t: d' `6 D$ T4 B: xfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 c% B% r$ Z. z
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 w; Y4 _6 u1 g6 k* u) I
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the/ c- a$ B4 j* B( N9 n
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants5 D. c+ @7 E Q7 i3 f! N
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ E W1 i+ a$ e* b( ~- n/ | [
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba1 {5 w7 w- O- {9 U9 x/ @
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 {# P' f, F1 J( x7 P5 D
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
& v0 @0 x5 i( c) r7 s5 mseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) [3 V5 _/ s& z# V: F9 t) w
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
0 M9 a. p8 t8 b# X$ D* F$ J% x+ ?shortage which the government is addressing by converting some- S* ?4 W, b0 ^8 a4 C
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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2 ^1 e- \+ B6 |The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no+ u: G1 Q9 K: w, K, u1 M$ Z
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
6 \) D. |- ?6 V/ V L2 X- q1 {! ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 C( s) u% |; a' _
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good1 s. ?5 } e4 k7 Q, @' D# P: w( h0 @6 J0 n
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 d1 _5 D$ {% a7 U& q: i2 j c9 \sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 T- o1 v* d0 T& ~% A) j
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.1 u) ?2 H3 \; U% o' j# m
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When n& H# z* F$ I( U' {6 }. M
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
! D& p) Y; i3 p# i$ s& f8 Z0 P( @charge the fee defined by the state.- }! f7 z5 c) e- c5 J% k
_9 T" H% [1 OThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
& q8 M1 z6 D) o) M+ \on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 E2 u5 l- F. {. t# q
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" x }: u8 A+ s; M5 f
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 F7 Y* L4 u! d& Q7 c
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: o7 W! Z: _1 I0 x
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
8 K+ ?' _4 @2 }) }5 vschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
. Q* s0 s- Z' I4 m: tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
! w* z& G* D! Z) V. C) ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% e1 M* F! P* b: m+ Z* b( i! R$ [" xhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
1 T& @ p4 F4 Npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 D: S( v. `3 g& q2 E5 d: M
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 p0 X; k. M- u" R8 M1 i# J
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
& U& c5 f& x9 T D, oare spaces.
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! Y6 I$ N: u4 Y' O; R) [7 w# VThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ P' r8 n5 t" v Ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- D7 m% W# \$ M2 W8 B- y! {) F, M
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the% b# v# K; N2 ?* |) B
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different1 j' T4 X3 m0 h5 r5 ]* d
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the# }" i' U3 H+ v8 H/ `* O
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few/ j2 N( ]$ ^0 m# C0 S
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
" \6 g- Z- d; h, ^5 g# G0 ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it* X# a1 {7 `% d8 L+ W, a9 j1 p4 J
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., @4 s' J0 g" `+ V* P& {
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
