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, p7 _; a; p# S/ D! bstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went, x! i2 [) k2 {% { [1 e: X1 `
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,. j, W. H* ?# Z. u2 {9 ?% U
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give- B( D0 L3 @% O7 c- c: x; O6 W" @4 X
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,7 V/ k$ n, p0 @* j3 e4 e6 m
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
8 j" J( A; u% pout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
# g2 O3 u9 @/ |5 lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
/ G* R5 I; ]& _- R+ E/ @2 @# Nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are2 j- d. i0 @( ^1 j/ {% m
medical schools.. V" w% U9 Q1 Y* B6 ^
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
2 Z6 X/ N! R, j/ x( ]) kgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ y! _8 u! }2 `% d, A: [' E
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
& @1 t" u3 R0 a% q, ?- b' X* I$ hassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: {3 l; `" @9 {5 K' q( {
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ u) x, n5 s: ], [& ?! Gover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, U; I4 `! }( w! z
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
! i3 c+ w3 h- e5 D1 }, E* Q, rmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk2 E9 T0 F( _$ X3 y% p# [% ~5 P5 f
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some9 l' r# ^$ b- J( E& ?
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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R+ t, P$ X. W( ^- v9 s% JThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 ~% Y! C: q7 s* Z5 ^6 U7 I
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and4 F7 v) E r2 t% A5 _
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
. X! Y7 M" B! b( Phave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ u& N& m4 P" Z/ Z& q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
7 y8 e# A1 J2 C4 Gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
- W: K1 }9 k9 `3 x) X6 v. Hdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.& ]/ t3 X k# x+ l4 L& G, H
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, U; C) a1 f4 p' l, \7 w& W
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
+ ~/ A s+ q3 c! h5 Z! dcharge the fee defined by the state.% u( i2 P* P2 p0 k. r7 X) R
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
$ P3 N9 |1 H. l8 n( L. `on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 }- _: |& r4 K: \, }
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big2 d H6 s; f- ?
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel5 W, [5 O/ U9 T- l- ~- M- f r
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
7 N2 k3 s: c+ J$ ]working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
$ ?& n% e8 S; `' l! Hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 l, t$ N( b, q
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
4 R# p$ [ u/ N0 w; a4 A$ xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ l6 |, R" S. e
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* ~& _) x9 U& A8 I; Kpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( Z5 c( ?( O5 U$ J& j, k7 i3 n/ v- Yto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
% ~# c9 Y" H8 s2 _buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 R4 d+ `) M" }" z! D- Q3 I, F3 N6 x
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 A1 p: Q# V( S' B; n3 y( v0 Y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
7 t {7 t5 K, N3 [( `8 kown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 d5 k9 H- `( ^; G
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
& D; C0 [& K" @! C8 \, N# Bparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 X, l5 z+ U+ w4 B7 _8 B* W
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
3 k" f7 O3 ~- X; k% q8 Tnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 x) h! ~3 K4 c8 ]7 W5 y, E- W& ?
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
+ P. E5 R+ [3 |/ n# }! s8 vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 r( b0 Y: c& s8 N We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
