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, [- a( H! m4 s2 w$ S* D$ w
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 b1 ?/ `+ ^/ x6 v8 H+ g* `- a- u
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' b, h6 }; [/ |" S/ }6 G, y8 J; @4 u
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
5 D* S0 m3 l0 s! c& K; _& M, aanswers to our pointed questions.4 t5 X4 E8 v+ T8 V
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
/ H5 W) Z! C5 r; M1 q$ C45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
9 J# @6 Y( @) Q, x3 D: T% Iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is2 Y2 U% L/ J7 p" Q6 D$ d: S
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ o L% R! o/ ]5 D8 j5 u- j3 I" \- w8 Z6 o
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
6 U& }* u+ c0 ]medical schools.7 p4 D" R3 u7 a9 G6 _
( @: K! i0 m- G& v0 f/ ]6 F. Y8 g: lEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( t6 E* o; z+ k' c d/ m
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ p7 J( C1 b- _: q, ^8 gto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' j, x( ^) R7 C! a9 Hassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- L* G, S% z3 D0 d) P5 `9 C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
5 C/ w9 }# ? n) O$ @+ n0 }over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
8 C0 e$ W: K8 r3 E' n- Pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 D" g5 j1 F. t. J( M- t( g: {mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ S" I2 w0 l5 N( Q; ^% J" t4 B) _$ _8 \
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some3 t7 W: [( F+ `
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.7 |4 ~8 A/ a' ^- M5 u
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no& O- u% F# U6 C( {0 E
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
" G3 ~. }( W% k4 Z qsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
- Z( k9 c8 U W" [0 R# Shave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
4 z2 s1 _( q e! v6 N# kthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ q. |, l8 ~, Z6 a# v3 l: G; z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high2 M, C) J( M+ s6 @
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
2 d3 W6 Y$ Z: c6 i2 ]' |Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 x6 ^' \7 l; c. f
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 X5 n3 O0 y$ [8 w
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get, W0 E- Y5 {; k: w8 Q+ j
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type; q9 j8 \% s" z8 S. J' z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big1 c$ c! q* p1 ]* I' q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
' Y0 N0 B+ G4 o6 l, h$ sseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; N0 |- e/ b, F6 R$ J
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
+ }2 f( E0 d% M4 t& {# C* Bschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! h' D+ G: @. a) \% t
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 h( {$ u& K, o4 C
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
5 S$ f9 r! N: L0 h- N0 [8 ahiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% Q& y9 y, N8 n: c/ npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want- k8 W- n$ I& P9 j6 `9 V
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
* U1 F" S, n* p. G- g4 O3 I; cbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
8 c8 s( O" O# H. \/ jare spaces.
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@0 Y1 p- P% o* k8 N% F; vThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( D# l9 C' s9 f l3 ^* v
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& } S7 c$ u( D y
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& x( p3 ^, ?: j# X, q/ Z40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 P& I; e' o* ^; Q
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the% z: K' U3 O5 @0 u3 @
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; V Q/ d4 c5 W+ b. q$ U0 f
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 x# g, k5 H$ I6 G5 t% z9 {3 I) q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
2 m) A3 F, q# a& T" W8 His a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., J1 `: m+ Q G# i5 M
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
