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
2 q/ n3 O; U1 zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went9 X& ]( _- [& G& v5 \% _4 ~, b# `
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,- y5 f5 ^* M/ [/ W7 c" h* r) M1 W% K. F/ x
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" F9 C, i* ]0 p. W) n# h
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
8 `: y/ b, F+ q) V/ m45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand' ?: {: [- C& t& m! `: b
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
( x' p/ c6 l$ Q/ |, Rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams; i1 f( ?( \/ N
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are6 f& g# B4 M( r# _( r8 y, S9 W7 Q
medical schools.0 o' D1 \4 \' u* X: x
6 X6 W4 O, t& d, |, c2 e3 ?: t: oEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 C9 d' D* u* A/ x
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 C: Q- f' V1 e( x# X3 p
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years! I8 y- D4 c' z4 t# \, g! b; P! a
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; Y' K y; N) S5 Z/ \+ c* S o6 xis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
' S9 s" i0 g7 u4 P. q+ ^over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There1 d) [7 j* a3 s! ?
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
' D8 {& {) W1 z* n6 n c- _) smostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ V9 D o5 C) N
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
& \/ Z5 U$ P! A0 n$ s2 _1 N$ n. Fsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. D; U# f! D+ c! q' Y' P
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no3 `( j Z: ]2 M# R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
/ d/ o w- d4 c3 d, b3 q) ?1 @3 jsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people3 z s& p" J1 ~4 w
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
- b; F' g3 r! n/ {4 \thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
1 e/ c& w$ b. m) C" L; \sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high1 g6 _9 O4 V# C( v
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.+ F6 g- {$ e( B/ C5 H7 [, n6 A
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
# r2 ?* M! n/ Ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( f2 y7 O! q9 [) g4 y
charge the fee defined by the state.) [8 [% h8 r S+ @+ i9 x4 T
* D! ?. e) d, yThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get& h+ k4 q+ G* ?3 D0 O+ G
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
) o+ z* v; B, L- ~4 rof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big1 X9 k1 `7 p5 W" e, h! Q- c
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
1 G$ o+ {. E' E4 ]! ^" qseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the/ x8 F: p+ G7 _1 c+ N! z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on9 `1 e( X0 a. f3 Q( s
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
8 f8 D$ N+ \9 y( Uyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* L% P. p% o) `# ]8 Y# `+ Y
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" O' I0 B$ M- _4 E
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 L+ d8 \9 g3 I
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want/ _( ~* K* Z* D) L2 Z2 I
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or- w/ X4 O$ j8 B
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there$ j3 f8 q7 l9 Z% I$ R
are spaces.- A1 n2 r9 p5 y( y4 S* C" R
3 a0 E8 a0 ?9 J* q, y' {5 m0 AThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
1 a3 N0 n% i" B# y5 [to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 W z( u1 E, iown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
( M" p7 ]! j' }: M5 }40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" J9 D9 o; M1 n; ?4 Wparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the% I! ?1 {% m; `& h3 z. x2 m' B/ b$ T
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 \% t' u2 o3 `& I0 c4 q) X
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of4 o6 X) A; B" N: v: y$ N: t
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
, Z8 U8 x& b- }3 X/ z \is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
; B: L4 v) J, [% h, E We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
