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( n+ n( ~' ]( G& h' d/ ]) ` e
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
( I, B0 G- \8 T* z4 ion a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
% H# _& U- A. L. ^- H"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! \4 E( Z9 { e3 x9 ^
answers to our pointed questions.' H5 E0 {& N7 l( T+ f" a
' Y. r2 k% Z+ }+ uThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
( B f5 i; r" E7 i0 G- z" ~" p45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* y2 Z( y# O5 R5 Q2 g
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ K: ?0 A1 R( n' ^
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
- A+ t2 B5 _; J/ P, W" Dto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# G' {/ V2 m# h' F/ D4 `) C
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 j9 Z! Z2 k8 y T w8 h
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants) k) B( l: l8 p$ n9 h7 w, z
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ M) b( x) x3 w. F
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
6 m5 C$ o' N! C# h. S8 lis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
" i: _; V; x+ o) ?7 e" Q! c2 vover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There/ @( ]% G) v. v- _8 k& M; F% c
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
% g8 y: R- c7 \# P; W6 S. \" bmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
' _9 D, s' U$ A. v" Z+ hshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
' `" p: G5 r! a3 M$ ^sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.' t3 l5 B5 f4 h n2 W" G
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
n1 }& f3 o; [2 g; W1 iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: V, B: ^2 ~9 L1 H. _
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; Q( ?& B7 M4 F% P
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
# @- C; T0 z5 `thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby p& o, N5 r. i K
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high" i$ Y$ q+ E/ O4 A+ h/ Q' V" J. ?
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.( a; G; |- D; K8 b. R
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
0 e$ u ~& O+ R5 q- L: D' W4 Ga lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 ~% B4 ^% r2 z, W- T
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 D9 g2 m% A' ~7 v* J8 v
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
) G5 q8 h9 q. q. U% ~of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, w& ~, n2 m- l' ftruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
- Q' q% O* y) i' bseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the1 |4 p: B; n% A5 D J
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' V h0 X4 u" O# a. ^
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
" }9 P% l2 x% Qyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people+ s8 q; R' a% Q1 z* p
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
' g* {8 H' ]/ Nhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- Q/ Y. q7 }9 Q' n1 n- Z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want$ U+ H2 _9 S/ f
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or4 D: r3 k, N7 N) c3 Y% X
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
8 J. f( V- b! f$ o+ rare spaces.% n" c3 k9 C0 w4 F& V. `! t
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi) l/ }8 B4 ], T" O) p0 l& d+ X
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
" G3 L4 L% i& j1 c3 K) n4 n4 V( x+ n. hown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
9 ~+ u/ c i5 X% j# G; K* ^+ y0 K40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
; k! I2 E) b. L# O! Tparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 R. C( r( L8 v* B* ~# P- t0 X
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
6 X, C, j2 v) z7 |nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
) R& |7 W4 k) ~! s/ Q7 \; R! }car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it" V* f" o# o. ]' i9 H
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
6 w3 ?. w1 W! k. z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
