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
( p' s) N% J1 \6 n& d! J% h( Ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went1 j9 x( s7 @& B
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 M# ?- G; n. B8 W% \: N
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 Y/ \* r! l- F8 M
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
) u! ~+ R. e1 S4 z* U# b4 ]$ R Y' V* e45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand" s9 e }: Y, K. N) a n$ e) s0 @4 s
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- |# ~& f! K( r- [
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 H" N% {, }( t
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are5 }( Q0 T1 q, G6 G! H r
medical schools./ b1 d9 G% x( i2 t
! r- w9 [' k0 f2 q9 w$ KEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 ^$ o6 `0 ~+ I/ {
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
8 P& J; x0 y5 p: V+ cto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
( F# L% {% k& n S n' rassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 [6 J$ `6 _+ M# K
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
$ \9 Y i }8 \4 xover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, k' [$ m4 M9 ^+ T
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
7 o0 G+ O; k; N" b3 Nmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk N/ `) J) G n% ]& [' {, ~
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some" ] O7 G" ^9 X7 ^( f
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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( J6 V3 a0 }$ Y4 w2 S- J' mThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no- Q6 `1 P# `! \1 U. X
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
% a% j9 k. B0 k9 t* Ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
3 D) C z& q# Ihave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
2 P) C+ ~2 h- K1 }& Ything about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ R* g7 u0 A- b
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high* [7 U1 N. h- X: \5 \+ I
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
L8 H7 K- |. M0 F* [1 N: C2 i8 E( g. v! VDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When/ w X3 R4 p) H; e/ J4 w4 ~) |( ~
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" m% i; U0 X# ]8 w. Y2 j8 ?
charge the fee defined by the state.
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" i% c* o- ~: o! g: b: R, N, h5 u& s ^There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
; v3 q8 j& F- }' z2 ton), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ K2 h4 L. b) p: ^, {6 p* k
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 o+ q3 I- K; J- H; g5 T
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
4 K/ q" e/ s6 l6 H- N. Pseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% P2 _0 `/ V: Z R. l4 Z* E+ X fworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ [% c! d# e# b, b7 B
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if c5 @5 R8 @& K5 f4 ~( d! z
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ h) Q' }- ]8 [
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( C0 }9 ^# x# e% w% y% v
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
& J* k/ B1 s P2 k/ dpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
$ n$ ]; p* `& R5 vto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or* a. z2 _: b2 S
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
( F$ |: Q& x9 i- L" @) v# Z9 l) Eare spaces.5 \; ?9 [5 `/ T- C
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
, L: ]$ N% t# ^' ?4 @ T' ^to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 |' g+ f' s: C! } v wown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the+ P8 ?+ ?- _- S, r$ p- T
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
0 G" k. H/ Y% z* f, `1 Pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
2 {0 U# i$ X* m- s# V* J+ j! r6 r* mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% B# [) S) o4 @ L5 u% l
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* Q2 c6 k7 B) x! r! k
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( _% A7 s; X' b( k& D& M& J
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
& T4 f5 H5 h# u- `! Y9 Y We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
