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
6 B( z( p! m. o+ U0 {standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went/ e8 n/ |! k, w' s' Z. q8 i
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,7 t: B7 Z: d; f) m$ v
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give$ O5 l; U& J0 T
answers to our pointed questions.. y. _. M/ p( }0 Y" e! U& a9 m
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
- V/ [! x. L$ q4 x9 p- ^45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
2 I1 H/ l A6 k! [' f7 @out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ G7 _9 I( S3 |8 Q) @' z
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
d, P* r! a* nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are4 i! {. I6 W# H9 ~6 G
medical schools.1 D1 w% g3 {) t& E2 X
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
- M$ J( g# d3 w) cgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants6 \5 T$ s H2 N9 g
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
. o6 Q6 W5 _( b9 D1 {) c5 c/ dassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 S3 x& E1 A) z* d& }- q7 S1 \
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 ?/ y \0 c" z3 g4 j/ M4 W6 Fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
5 r- m. H; z. A3 E* _8 Qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
7 q- a+ j- A% B# _mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk2 S: n1 Y+ [# t
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
! D5 R- D, j4 L5 M$ W3 Bsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no1 j6 a1 \6 R/ D8 F( D/ i1 k
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and2 x" M; C# H3 Y
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! x! }7 n! ^4 h# O( G6 B3 I
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good7 K8 [8 r) Z7 z- ?
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ Q4 c/ ]+ I, a- X S+ f3 y
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 X3 T8 S* @2 k: x8 R5 }
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
. c: P; [' L+ K% s9 r5 e5 \Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# O. u7 e, y& A+ Q" L# p' J
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only D" Z' Y/ ?9 B$ I" R
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
( j# K) J# y2 H( Q% \on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type' c# I% C" F! a$ V' V) a- J9 ?
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big6 N* q' t" \5 l- M |1 E
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
; d: g2 v4 n3 Zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: a+ _. \1 \$ `8 B
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
7 U! f. A" f$ b; } {4 Xschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if# R; N- b, b2 {/ N. B1 C
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people0 _8 R2 j$ `( @! T! Q2 o+ }7 U, f
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# s0 Q5 M1 M" k# e. N3 _# i" Shiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' G( K8 S) E& a% E ^
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 l! [7 p/ E# S7 a S& u- n2 v/ N
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" ?; ^9 P; q3 J5 L! Q; \0 |& l! [- {
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
9 J/ P W; Z& R5 F% Dare spaces.8 M- r4 Y7 J2 X( W N! @. z: P
& H5 ~; q8 O3 ?0 g6 T3 x; U4 Y" }There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
' _1 O, Y! s! F0 s: Yto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 F( P8 G3 I% T/ l: x& _own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- j3 \) `; D( ~' N [40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different. A0 Q. ~5 O' s, o* s
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 |3 R9 x; v' z% _; x$ r
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
6 K4 N4 O1 R2 a `nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
# H" s& l6 ?1 b6 ocar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
( x7 G+ [, u1 p; Lis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
z8 x. w* ~* u+ ] We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
