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 I( A) c9 A" g$ v. wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ u* k" p8 H# N3 Eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,) X% y) y" Q% L# f
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
/ W, I9 |4 [! G+ g& W+ C( @answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
1 ^# n$ Q" I+ T) `) ?. p5 X45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
3 \/ o$ h5 l. Mout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
. \5 Z* R" E7 ]free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams; B _7 Q$ k8 X y( `
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& {& a; v( F: F* s" }- }
medical schools.. P- q* t: y" N5 M
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
& o2 ^0 S/ v, Fgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 d3 U! k) ?$ x7 x7 b3 O8 k
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
4 }7 S( M5 V/ ?% @. lassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
( Z! }& G) }& s z% cis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; c e$ O v# h+ _
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There( A! Z/ A4 n( r; Q/ C
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
8 m) C1 V* e( gmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ g# \6 Z2 L M8 K
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some0 q- i, |9 h# Z0 D$ u" {
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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0 y+ Y" X9 C GThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
) o% n) b1 y# `4 `; B$ hprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and8 A* L5 \8 R* u: M9 g6 j0 C
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people" C1 R: I" n: Z: q7 u: h; n
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
" C& F- ^- a3 B2 g5 P8 }thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
8 c( q4 B3 i3 k$ i8 I3 W7 Msitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& a* ^5 L& W" u/ Y; r6 t7 }
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
- Q% T8 Y4 E+ g( [+ T2 jDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When7 ?2 w" v% P" X4 P4 h9 I
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only/ H8 r8 B) [/ y3 \ [
charge the fee defined by the state.
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2 T; ~9 `2 G& m* u: Y4 iThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 P5 T9 s; G. }) s
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
?: {% B/ C/ c8 Y: o6 @of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big( u4 y! b, Y* o, p2 P
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
" E, \6 L* S% pseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
3 e/ g6 G2 y& Y0 dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on. @ {/ L6 y9 F8 |6 z% K/ n
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if a8 Q! p% E. o- ^5 D: X
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* `7 y2 C9 m% P; {! A9 C/ @- gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
z# Y* {1 Q5 q5 x% \hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
. ?+ w( I/ b) {people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want3 T" B: H+ [7 Y. T0 W& L6 W
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or6 t3 H. h4 J% s* |
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
, F( \, L( r3 P, z8 X8 t4 Care spaces.4 i& ~- Q: P* w+ X7 W5 O
" f2 ~1 m$ A$ s) Q$ u3 SThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 O( r. Q7 ^. S l9 b
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 ]% u1 e+ N* X v% E a
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
' r" m D! {# G! `. {40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
( e" ]3 g9 H0 D. ?5 z1 I" rparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the2 g s* ]2 s0 n! C) k6 a
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 ?: |0 B; Z8 m) L; Wnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 ]7 U) t+ P1 q# X! Q4 ~8 p
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it6 A3 b8 j7 R% h
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
" j3 M, _# A2 e, D! H |) i7 d We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
