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
A9 q) Y1 R5 n- t& F. B9 ?standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
. a9 q3 E$ H' K5 _( W# Y. w- z! b- R& non a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
; |) P3 G9 \6 @ m* h- x"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ Q/ Z5 x/ G$ Q) Y
answers to our pointed questions.- ~1 D) [7 N/ A0 \
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
. F% E2 W1 |0 B7 m9 y! P45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
! ?! w7 N: g) X& Iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
5 U* O+ h1 a# T- a4 R" Vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
# c/ W" b, r2 X& Y/ S2 \* zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
( v& F; X1 k' m. p0 ]$ b3 X4 Gmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! H; b, t$ I! k5 Hgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* r2 b8 C/ l8 G3 s( K% z
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years0 B% d8 W# }6 W# m& T; v+ ^
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, U/ l+ q/ `% tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to$ P, Q3 b! j( T! u/ X+ m* {" V
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
5 t2 ~4 h" n' Bseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
% v! H; O0 E2 @* Omostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk; s2 E% Z7 T, B5 N+ z5 N- N4 m% n/ |3 @9 A
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some! W, f6 `* j5 w3 }7 F
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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/ b) ]% \( W# |, |The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% o Y* q) e) V' l
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 Z4 I& U; `% e+ N/ [
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! p/ y" |, e/ [0 \have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 G0 ]; K5 h& N/ C
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: d$ F+ C) c) f
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
' E: i, a8 O9 d7 q# X$ a5 x9 ~" C/ fdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.- u) o2 w$ Q' `2 p
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
# ]9 t7 U" [6 J5 E. h" Va lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
4 T, W7 T, H* |9 a) U- B- {$ Icharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
8 J5 e: g+ B: P5 Fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ r& G; [+ C$ yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, U9 e% q0 O# I$ H$ O- B( itruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel% B* u$ N# U9 }. A6 O: K, O
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
/ O5 n! U* T9 Z, i {3 r/ _working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on1 ] `' P% |$ m# ^* V) U4 m
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 R3 J" L& S: J: j6 H3 P
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* S' P/ r; r: c& H8 x* Jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
/ ]- n* `% S l1 J& |hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 Z7 @0 f$ K: X/ @( s
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want. ]6 N. M$ P' h5 s
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or* ]# |7 I1 K! {$ Z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 y# {3 \: Y6 h. i' k5 x
are spaces.( I" [$ e4 b5 x6 o. p& D1 V( C, Q8 g* p# p
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 P, |* ?6 N; t/ u: `3 J
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they1 e1 j' K1 @0 ~
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the- f- @. a/ _7 W' S" N1 {! R/ `
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
( x5 C2 P* N- X, C! Mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 j9 {6 r# \* ^( n
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% g$ R0 \: @& e2 c- T" M: xnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of. y$ i3 Q- P) N. T+ w7 A
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 c5 J6 f; e) v& L
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
* W: C A3 r2 z! w We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
