我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living5 o* w9 h" r0 c) b
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went3 g+ h3 I* `' {' |0 o: A& Q" Z% [
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," A! w+ F- T T, U2 p' X) y
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give# ^# `; ?1 \* _2 C$ h- o# J' @
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, h! z8 @/ {3 \0 Q) |! S
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
& z1 a. Z' o' s0 o* Iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 J% R. k+ B" c: |9 R& z3 Y8 h
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
7 E3 o+ _/ |" m/ pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
5 K5 h! K8 G5 mmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
0 O% r$ x0 O7 Ygovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants7 V9 M# O& G4 b$ g
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
Z8 l' k$ y, e- o. @1 k. sassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 {, x. [$ G3 t& A1 D& l; l- A; b
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to& ^' H6 G! q) ^5 i) j& Q
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There; s" X1 k8 J7 K! p( [. \0 q
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
& l" W: r) X. }" D# [9 Qmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
! M5 I9 |- Q* z# Z9 ]7 M5 B3 Kshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
# W1 h. N" E8 y% ]; t4 \sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no' I5 k* f" a# M" B: I5 L I
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
. l5 ~* g+ v2 D& qsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people* Q8 U/ Q5 D6 _) J' h b9 X0 C
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
' R$ J! O0 c) x5 P. b0 hthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
" W3 V) y+ I4 t i4 S& n% @. [sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high+ l# a- j3 r0 d
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.$ N( y7 O+ c& W1 ^
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
N6 ~) L- a( C5 z' A2 ba lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ m% t Y( r- jcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
. ~/ s( ?3 Q1 ?on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type( ^0 k$ ~. @4 I* o5 E) l* n4 q X
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. \& o3 w1 Z$ v) U* R0 C+ P, p: S/ Atruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel! m- B8 t6 ]+ r
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 w% K4 m* G- P: S7 ?6 ]: u
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' }) }, [" t6 F( V7 I7 l
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
# U8 P$ Q' B# J T5 U4 J* vyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
# F, j$ D: ^2 W/ Xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch+ K |9 m5 E X6 s: _) m9 s) A/ E
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that1 ^ k& e/ P" x3 o9 ?: Z4 a
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want, F3 M$ s, a9 V$ [
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 b' j+ h+ T* d, ~1 d; f
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 p$ K" H0 H9 ?are spaces., U" s4 ?+ p2 V4 ~
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, ^% D- ?1 H1 i! z) P. k
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
2 ?6 p+ f/ Y5 [: e/ yown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, m- M' Y% g3 o" ?$ Z2 z40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 F6 q5 X+ @& d! a+ i$ h
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the- E( \3 E+ \2 F8 z5 E( R0 U' j
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) ^* e2 w, X% ~% z Z
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
7 U9 X4 K* I8 E) ^0 {0 qcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
G, G* _ Z" i; b0 n( _* q5 A9 zis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ @0 A$ P! U- g- B1 q! W We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
