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
9 I2 w* ^7 O0 s3 u, h# fstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
7 M* ]: m& z7 _3 \on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
0 Z4 e* G1 Q; m3 @* o"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
4 b- k9 w- T8 `' |# Panswers to our pointed questions.& c* P$ `* x7 ~% y( P5 Q
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
0 e& `5 f% I$ Q! v- N" T45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! P- p% N' P9 |2 c' _0 ]
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
. \3 P* ^" G3 I4 c' N, a1 x& Qfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams: p* X8 m- F5 p. q8 W& {% [. S
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) \+ i+ Q5 Y3 }9 E
medical schools.0 O9 c4 t8 E5 e. g$ A) T3 L
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 W, t( f# h: `) \) l
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- y4 j$ ^# M9 p6 h7 z. eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
K: J* E F7 M/ V$ iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba/ G7 T+ f2 }$ k0 G7 L% {+ N
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 _, \- k8 M9 w* Z4 \5 D: K
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ c; h5 S6 U" e8 i4 L8 l: y
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
; F! P0 M. k) e+ h( emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: A5 n/ c. h8 I' W5 ?
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some4 l/ C- D, D* T
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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* d; d8 R3 _" F- q! M* hThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
6 h% y6 c( ]$ K" J1 D/ U3 Y+ jprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and; x- L8 H" I6 ~3 D1 a* U# s4 _. z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people3 o- a) M/ d9 }6 ~5 X7 {$ n
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% u) I2 x) Z* H$ Ything about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 Z: [7 r4 d8 L- l7 @- G$ }4 v6 nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; n6 O6 I8 V, F% e5 h+ O( Kdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
. x9 o3 v9 u1 r5 Y0 g5 a+ m- s* HDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; i k; o: f- ^' G) D9 U) H
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only' {# p" K- U8 b: A+ j
charge the fee defined by the state.! e( U, n0 ~: D$ H1 A( [2 _: \
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get3 s' y& x7 W" b% J, k5 _$ h8 b+ _, C- j7 M
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
5 Y, e3 T) B( |of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
1 h) N9 R3 J+ B- I$ }. \' v5 l- xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
) [4 @) x1 K. |0 x/ E0 Fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 ~* ^+ a; F4 h% P
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: V3 o/ s' J3 Y
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, b3 W/ O5 |$ [, F0 V; l1 G: C
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
0 v( U- A6 c0 m `trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! @2 {/ ? a& E. S4 B4 X; Xhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
e f. \% K* _% e2 i0 Hpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' I( X, B/ F# f. ], u! w( v7 q& \
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
" V0 E8 Z/ \" v; e& k* O# {buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
; ]7 |# @! Q$ ?; C3 jare spaces.+ s+ z) J+ E/ u Y$ H+ X7 j
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 o( A" a( J8 y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' X5 l$ X- j8 G) s2 }own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
1 P5 d+ a3 K2 `$ c40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different7 h" N, w( j" X3 z; P8 q
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 R3 g, R+ z1 D! d+ R/ A. J- E9 {3 f
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 R& O, U- [8 g) l: K
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
( @1 ^5 F* b% w+ M: L3 gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
. @4 H& f+ n2 c. X( @8 @is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
% ]8 N5 j! M' |' [, w$ W: f We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
