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
! O& A% M# @- a4 }9 dstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 P" [( V/ I9 qon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
5 k% v0 ?+ x9 K4 ~"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ m( {+ a6 j7 G ]7 G
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
. | K8 `# r$ s1 f45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
7 w* _+ g! d. }$ o7 L4 Sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
5 x' ^2 K$ Y5 Tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
3 M0 F8 P1 L. C2 S2 N( ^to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
6 K) ?" E/ B! ?* G% Kmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
8 s+ \* M' J/ m6 B8 tgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ B5 V; _6 G" X4 o% H v
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years7 y; i! p! M6 O' P& P
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba3 U% j$ e: |3 O
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ N* I0 x' N2 z$ X6 d6 {( u7 N5 I* ~over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* L- P' o! I2 i# v/ e' E/ }seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
5 F; e. v) N) X* s5 B5 {mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# P# U0 u$ j4 u. _6 n
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some% w9 o1 u0 v9 _7 O% ]; W9 X
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.$ J9 Q* K% @/ C8 R- S; U* a( E W
. U e6 V: x( |! {- Q, e( L' VThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no' x" T' Z3 _1 ~: h* ?$ h. O7 k
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 R# \# i1 A3 p0 T. z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( H( F/ J5 _- Z8 h' J$ u7 l: Z' shave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% N g8 s' b" T; y8 O9 O$ b2 L2 u9 Bthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: u+ {6 u# I- M4 v$ R6 h" {
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; j$ T: u7 Q H/ f- q( b1 |! ^
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years., b0 l; D( \3 }; a5 N
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
+ S; [! i* i8 H- F$ p& a: Za lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
( y( @" C' S; \charge the fee defined by the state.
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1 O5 P3 Y' Z: N k$ ?, ?There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get% Z) _. G! w8 H
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
6 h' i, `0 {4 O# {4 Rof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ a& L: J+ m5 U K9 d0 Z
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
& C9 d2 P$ j; cseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ ?* ]0 y: M# d
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on% Q9 A8 O7 g' l; R: _
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 c& g2 W* l2 c5 X6 ]- W
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. e) x9 d( ?$ j# `4 w7 Y
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch* l9 @9 T2 u6 w3 r9 ^
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
8 Z+ x7 U3 S" s- [7 `people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 E' |& N% T% ?2 j# v* g
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
% B. f$ o3 t. v- sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
4 W. b( o+ P$ J: q; G, V u' }! ]are spaces.0 t3 I' c: Z! H; K5 p" O* ~0 R
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 Z/ W2 i" ^9 J9 X
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
3 ~4 V0 {/ a/ v/ T" o( ]: Hown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" y0 _ `* B; ]/ y
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; E9 Y ?/ r7 P% m3 c7 \3 i3 s/ f
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
/ w x( X- ?* K: u+ Z' F- [best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few1 m. L0 ] \: [6 b
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of# @; g$ V* Q. ?, D1 b0 J0 ^; b7 [
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 o. _$ j/ f- h1 _is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 a* z+ J! ^; r5 _" y3 D/ [
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
