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" e" f2 W1 L9 X' O: x
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
% w4 h$ A& S: u- kon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,) { @9 v- {9 p q
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
6 q/ A2 I. L! uanswers to our pointed questions." ~. P9 `. U1 W9 b. q: E
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,- r- u4 V1 a" k' D0 ]# d f
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand" p/ z8 \: T# u3 w7 H( |% h: R: K& u
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
' ]% ?2 Z& i( G2 F/ V: d- ]+ z, yfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" _* M1 g$ y2 ]$ |: s( v Z7 }5 ?. a
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& f1 w0 u2 T& v- @medical schools.' a5 L, T0 g0 I& p9 ~% F
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 B8 n/ a7 p% ~& O9 f
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants P) D1 i: _$ x3 S4 p8 K
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; E8 Y+ w% W1 U5 d, }assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! j" Q/ c4 t0 ]- y: Q7 tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
0 N- I2 }8 z& K; Iover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There( p& J H+ q: B" ` u; w
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' A9 q) y1 s {& n( V% G
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
8 V' B V' H: U, ^6 r3 `/ E4 ishortage which the government is addressing by converting some/ [* u) q$ g. y- D
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( W0 L% J5 w9 V E2 ~# ]' M+ @private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 i3 R9 O: i) G$ R9 ^* p
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 r5 N, C- d5 ~# _8 t
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) K8 {7 K6 ]7 h
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* k0 G' `8 z+ P2 f5 S8 c
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
+ K- d3 T# l+ j1 N4 c3 qdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 o: Q9 s" ?, Z; z( F/ T9 q
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 e) V& l5 h* v ]$ ~# K6 u: m( Ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
1 a7 C% `* X/ q+ r7 o6 Dcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
0 a& `+ R; ]4 Kon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: c9 J r0 D5 ^' Q' x7 q/ m C
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 L' |; U0 k" A6 I8 C4 W
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel6 z, X' g8 T7 z/ d. N. T' B6 O6 T
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the4 ^0 c6 V6 k) y+ G
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 U2 W7 Z* P$ q2 E* i# f# [$ X
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if+ G! {( D- |% D
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people( u$ k( f' `9 _
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 p4 K( N2 D2 z" G1 rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% \3 j1 U2 G8 V/ Kpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
$ ]$ p( r3 Z9 ^: I/ Y5 O& yto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" b, h9 |' J* t' h2 j' g4 f
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
5 V+ u, F% z9 p0 e6 \& u3 ?0 eare spaces.6 Y _5 T, m+ F9 e2 ^
) }% c. M- o v) Y( w) ^; ~There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" O7 q7 Z2 U0 L5 P
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% A4 q- X! n* R/ pown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the* d! @* H8 K0 M' u9 s
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: ?" K" v# K% Dparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the' I8 m: z8 r2 `0 S* N/ R
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
& ~' {- } Q; q% C2 ?0 {8 Hnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of6 d& L4 W. ?$ `0 ?7 q* |
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& L' L/ K! C" N& x
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 J9 d0 C) A7 X! @ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
