我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living9 n x: E) }' _6 }! V, d$ `) v. [
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went" \1 [. e8 M( F- v& j
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,8 X5 v+ o1 Q; }; C( N
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give$ U/ s, y/ o. n- _' I( |- K
answers to our pointed questions./ c, P# \. I) z5 c) S
) ?: q: m( e; Y/ JThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
+ n- P8 g" H# O7 ], I4 V45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 y& S9 e3 I2 O: g. r. f6 {
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ y3 S+ b \7 F3 c! a% y
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
( f B1 O; A4 a5 J2 L/ eto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) T0 H' b# ^# }4 o6 _! O
medical schools.- Y0 B! B0 Z6 J' Q+ T, K C
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
6 b3 T' T+ W* @+ d- Sgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants @ Y4 i+ y8 i h: D
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
- X1 D3 `* C0 I1 E* F s5 h Qassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! D0 r/ R: Y4 S! m# o: Qis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
. Y, k: V: i. y3 oover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There: r j9 \( P3 }) T
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 A' m, l! I/ W- Z
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
3 \6 P0 x+ b% B& p5 Tshortage which the government is addressing by converting some: w& k; y. d- H& Y+ W' X& M6 g8 H
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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, ]% T8 j |8 n0 C+ YThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
) ~# k* i8 I% k F0 Nprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# \& n5 A8 A$ t+ {" G+ o# k
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
* j( W" k$ v! bhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good! t e: k2 L( u. l( H* y) W$ e% ~
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby6 v6 b4 j+ J2 m) y. d! w7 d' e
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, c! Q* l+ \' m& d$ d: r: f3 j& r& M4 odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
/ O5 f. K b- _( ^Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
. q7 R1 Q4 t5 L3 E% v: H, D" Ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* n A" a* B! P' E- r) w
charge the fee defined by the state.
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! N+ ]1 ]$ U; p6 p# y8 S9 f- uThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get% A1 h9 B; \( u r# ?4 E
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type5 H& H' d+ q* q" ~+ q6 a( y
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
& H. `2 }" I: `. m0 ~9 a" xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: O- y0 h5 w! N8 j, mseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! H5 @/ Y! |" {& ^3 v h0 l
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on1 C, g; U6 \) m. z3 p! ^
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
, r/ f& B9 s8 Y8 r) E: Uyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. [5 Q4 T5 F6 q1 L4 } M3 l
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
$ F& I- B: \0 ~/ Lhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
- v" o% d! e: |* w+ A" ^people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! \) K; j: E: l* r1 ~to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
, D3 m: ^# M& t# n+ L, Kbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* J2 i; W5 B1 P [3 h: c' L
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
: [. ?7 Z' H7 s9 m+ Q6 F! q3 Rto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
! _- I* ]8 J8 M2 }* aown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 B! h% W$ y' {4 C5 | V; s
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 n. ]! M, E% I* m1 G2 d+ O) pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 E3 o1 D2 v5 m! Gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few8 C+ ^' c6 p B4 Q- I3 g
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
( A' y- U3 ~8 hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( q% |( k# q5 U
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
; S m$ D2 R7 X) |% K We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
