我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living1 d* P7 E" ~* \# o7 u
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 [5 I5 l- [% O' p1 F5 U8 y$ u
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,- p0 t9 O" [0 R* S( v$ I
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give# z% H s& F- L9 p/ b7 q$ L ~
answers to our pointed questions.1 \" T+ z1 a5 M+ [$ x m
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
' n: k0 h( |2 i0 s45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
0 l5 C; z; Z+ ~out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
1 A* O4 A9 k3 s$ K5 bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 k6 D& O0 a0 S- a9 \4 D Q, t% b
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are+ W9 C+ L: k1 u/ X. ?: e8 ]
medical schools.
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8 w+ h$ S X2 a% y3 jEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
/ D; |: }6 ^' V$ x4 vgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
/ u( Q* I& b' E0 Lto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 `. X- k; u: T/ }+ S
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
8 F$ M& k/ k( g; `is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
' C% B; \9 f, P3 I$ J) p, J* tover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% E2 h: S+ v$ a! q& n. ?7 q5 m' j
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
) ~7 F9 x7 v* p- K' ]mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
- F( e3 a$ l; T& Zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some0 ^8 `5 K' V4 O/ V/ Z# ]; z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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( B# D) w: [8 m4 F0 i0 j- ?The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
+ y( M2 m! d1 l/ T8 Lprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% o y' @0 \6 d
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people# k# W1 W! w, E$ P' U0 [
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good+ T( z" M+ D3 a6 r
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 u! w0 m1 L4 Y$ X" i' u5 zsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, r$ {' _4 C/ ]' T k% e) ^divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
/ x+ ^" q6 L: r! ?/ O. ~# yDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When' f0 `+ u' q- i7 w$ ?
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
) i8 u3 e0 V' ucharge the fee defined by the state.
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: N) W0 a8 l# j3 z6 lThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" F( S+ Y9 j; H! m2 {3 uon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
& l/ t5 \! D; s2 ~2 u% Pof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# `: V3 n4 |& a. i& l) G# U) A
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
7 ?! Z1 Y( p7 c% N; ?% Pseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' {# L- Y: y+ f5 t
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
8 @: A; L/ A5 d. \, e3 R; o; w6 pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- P) r) @+ d9 ^, w
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 [% V7 t4 }" s7 `1 h$ Y0 u7 q7 A
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& n& F7 }6 L- Zhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that p5 o3 M% j0 K* C/ m6 v! g% z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 X o( r" w) k% D" e* ]) K
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
$ p7 H! P& b* K9 y$ Hbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there9 x a" @$ c1 t* |
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 n# ?7 E `; `3 \
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) Z4 K& z6 J6 S2 ~- Sown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& A: E% b6 {* Y$ }: S5 |5 ]
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
) ~) i' H% N4 w" E( l* |7 ^parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
2 c# j7 l+ X( h. sbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few- \; F8 N+ N/ h1 @
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ Y" E Y0 U& D$ A* h; K
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; U& [7 l: M% ?8 W+ u( qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
% k! Y6 s7 \+ F8 \ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
