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
% Y, \$ i H# |% m: b3 z' H+ Sstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 B+ {& ]7 w- X6 A8 t" q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," J- W$ Z6 y1 E% ~
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give# {3 G; m" C% f- ^( v
answers to our pointed questions.$ ^: r4 }6 }2 i3 c! b" q: M1 ^
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
1 T/ O4 j; p. _$ {7 X, \45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. u1 }9 F% v" j4 w5 ]% w
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
) H: t- |" z. X# K# nfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
/ @4 y0 P A2 \) [9 q& eto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are- `! S0 m& Y# ^7 ^$ G
medical schools.
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7 R9 v% Y$ W! }% `7 ~4 w5 fEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, D3 d, v5 `- Z. S; g( p4 vgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 H5 ~2 Z" Z, v8 R; x9 q8 N) [to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years) g% h) w4 v' @" k" b' K
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
" O/ Y( s+ x. s& M1 w e( X3 xis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 l, ~5 Y, {1 J" mover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, \( _/ _6 D8 ]# Wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
3 c: @% g# O; Mmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 n0 u& m2 ^8 `/ H+ ~* S5 M- m( Xshortage which the government is addressing by converting some$ a9 h' h- g& ~# _( L( D# i* R/ e
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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4 B* Y9 j2 O! G; i u% x+ ]The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) t( m9 l1 S, J$ J* |: G
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* {4 ~4 m8 e6 D+ h7 [supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 d/ l9 W/ z. u; _
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good6 m4 m/ i6 d, u
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# u, K: Z- a. I, N( isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high" a4 Y8 T) q& j5 d) h1 Q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 f4 r$ m6 g( y4 I
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When' d* c. g6 ?$ V" ~: D, r8 k$ S
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only- M: ], ^6 m! R- D5 z
charge the fee defined by the state.! l- B% k) T) q8 @+ j/ j! z
$ P3 u0 y9 z. C5 v8 vThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
4 z. {: q H4 X9 Y: r% Eon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 o% m1 q7 o3 p2 J6 Z; F
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- |4 _0 }8 E+ `& T! @% _truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
+ P; Z% g' S }- useems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the( A6 M/ L- @1 |: D7 [7 q% W0 x
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' `7 \; g2 L+ v8 Y1 p
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
" ~) K; m' e1 Q- W ]8 ^you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
8 g0 N) P1 t0 `; K. B( y2 Wtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
' o9 \* l% _8 U4 D! chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
) K+ b, ^' [* Y$ ]people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want$ Q. |& ~9 r! G4 M
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! }! A) _/ W5 D
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
- e l8 P8 _' s8 b+ d& Fare spaces.8 y6 |9 n6 l9 a- V: @. A
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; G$ J, J/ O& ~' }
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
. s/ {0 g3 W& ?& }own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ v, t+ w5 N* Z40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
$ u: y7 J1 b+ [4 L- y% _parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the+ g5 W6 R; P. q% @
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few# M3 Q0 \& g3 z7 o" e g
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ t. X: d$ g$ l: D' }
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
9 [' p; J( U; ?7 jis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., Q) R; Y, T5 l% d
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
