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
5 p& i3 { b* _$ G* N; dstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went9 W: M7 R. p1 A. m
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' ^- `8 C9 G4 _" i. e' H3 [
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 u3 _" C; j7 O7 Q2 b
answers to our pointed questions.
# M# T+ i& J$ _* i5 c- n+ [, N
7 J2 h# T4 j! ] oThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 e; F0 V0 |( K; q# D3 h45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% ~- M( g& m* l2 m
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
, h! J4 E/ w/ Y. Nfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams+ [7 B0 U% ~# O5 @3 Q) P2 ^1 ?
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are8 k3 O4 w0 D% W, i) l
medical schools.) C; _+ H8 g$ R" S7 O3 E
: P0 f5 I8 m; _% F
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* W- \# o; y1 A! Dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants6 g5 F' J6 D( r ]* ^& E
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
9 D; i/ ~+ x3 G% Fassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# _6 r3 j5 T. C$ [9 C) Ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 `0 b- O n! {+ U' a$ G1 O/ \over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, ]% X1 X2 K Y- [2 `/ |
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
8 m( ~# ` J/ C, }+ m" \mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
% t2 T( K7 h2 M! \; J7 }shortage which the government is addressing by converting some3 t1 q0 b+ p, ^
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
- R" K" A2 a4 \& r' s) F5 E6 l; }, [* v
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% C+ b5 t% m, q+ | s% |9 k4 ]$ Y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, F& c; _4 Z( d3 ?
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people J! M; V. k: M+ f. O
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
8 j: W8 t: }5 s- u$ n1 Gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# C( y% C8 ~( h' \. w" j6 Wsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 N$ [, Y9 E1 r0 N# `* V
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. C4 `* @& B+ a' m1 x- F# q. k
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When+ l: X5 y3 k3 H; s
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( [ B$ U9 V7 v8 G+ }
charge the fee defined by the state.
1 f" g2 { y0 F5 r# i& T1 Z; m# C0 {( k; Q0 L$ w1 w( P
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
) S. Y2 o( r5 H% non), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# d5 E& d7 ?9 H% v% s5 {5 r" X' M
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big. @- I e- Q1 o
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: [% I. n& i' w& A# v; p1 gseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* X* K1 @$ u# s2 ]working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: y5 |" Y, t. H. [2 hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
7 P+ S8 o% |0 t# K2 c4 T; pyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people7 Z4 C# o' A. z/ M( F3 K& O! s
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- R; P1 l8 k: u6 u& ]! c: t% q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
; [! V% ]+ a8 T3 p# z7 lpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 i) y; d( F/ B; D
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" \& F0 F W, A- u0 n' q; q a1 r0 x6 V
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
- v9 N/ `1 O- X5 jare spaces.- ~2 A1 s+ L! O2 s3 F' X* O: o
7 F$ m# Q% M* p4 }7 ]9 D. `. T& S
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi3 H! a7 D0 \ L7 d
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
/ {# L/ ?& I' u, I% \9 _4 kown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- g. s T& M5 o3 h0 u" I0 n40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 ?# N6 {& X- Z4 c4 D& @) U% j
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
% s& f2 `, X1 j( Hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few/ \9 s/ r2 [/ X+ O7 e
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
# @1 B5 W. z6 P+ L2 B$ ]car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
9 x9 ?6 `. a( Qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.0 _3 k- d2 ^* N. \+ `
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
