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' Q+ {/ ?8 q* K* A
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 U9 F( y5 G, B7 Bon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,- [3 p$ j/ @& f6 t
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 U" D+ w7 m6 ~2 G8 Z! `
answers to our pointed questions.8 d" K1 b2 _5 s
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
& a- e8 g5 X z. K45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
/ J% q8 L# N* d! ?out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
) Z7 ]& m! v! ^( w0 xfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ I2 M9 ^9 S9 |
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are- ^8 i3 r/ [! M5 @3 X/ R4 n! ?
medical schools.
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9 f0 _" `; h4 A% k0 Q+ d, ^Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# G5 M" I5 n4 h# J1 G
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* t0 G2 A9 w$ V% K5 ]1 s
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
/ l1 W5 ^7 b5 massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ ?3 ]/ |, t1 k, z( X% e
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to7 n/ Z" h. V0 K- I4 v
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There# W7 v0 z# Q, G/ F7 a
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
2 M4 l4 Q: W; z' f1 P" Vmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk$ z5 ?/ y0 q" ^/ h
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 r: B3 u' R0 G3 ~0 m/ q0 b
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# T4 V, I6 L# H- N8 T6 l" Z
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: |" I) _% Q; P
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 J$ T( ^2 C8 @" O$ s4 f. _* p
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
- k3 I, f1 ?% ]/ ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
1 z* C# V- U8 s4 Y! P7 t+ lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
( V# \5 {5 Y$ l2 Z+ I4 ] q5 a/ ?divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ H1 D8 R2 \# C& _/ u- \2 TDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* S* H" c, Y4 x0 D+ f- M) ^5 b+ Q
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. j- D+ m: H3 @. j
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
9 p3 o8 `$ e8 ^/ Hon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
- x% v! N1 U8 T+ D; c- Q$ Q& Pof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 v/ _' B1 H0 O2 [
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
1 d& g0 v# K4 V% f8 lseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* k8 U- O9 C: \& Rworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' |9 }. t) H0 L3 z+ @6 R* a. ^
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if$ `8 z' j. B. O: @: B) [5 e
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people( ?) I( W- M& `3 {
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch x' V" P6 {* o$ K) ?
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 f# b" N5 Z& zpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want& J7 x+ C. S! x$ V0 ~. Z
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or M# S0 u5 d! ~+ D& ]2 d
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there: w! Z: n) o6 ~$ @9 T
are spaces.2 \' C/ E4 b" g/ F* x2 y. B
" S( d4 Z' n: l) \9 ZThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 c: Y: g3 h5 _
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) l7 {% D$ g& K, A) Bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
9 d* i; A4 z- B! Q4 K40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
. w, V/ a. U: C5 c- ~parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
5 T% S- }! W1 {2 s& x$ ?best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
0 e" C2 o& f7 H/ j3 Snice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
# z2 _% L' B5 O2 X. L' ?car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' |! D9 g. V3 W' `7 n- N
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 a; `% s9 _! K4 p
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
