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
& v& \- {! `* G6 n/ Y5 Q. c6 ]standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went/ S- o- Z) _9 \6 ^- y6 I5 p
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,. @5 K$ B# S9 v2 r
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give6 f% |$ k* I, Q& l1 l
answers to our pointed questions.
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; n' B& i8 u6 O+ H( gThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 X( |# V) f. a9 o1 d2 f
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
2 X9 S* B! P& d' T* v8 \out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
- _: ] O6 }3 pfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams) e/ R* A {5 p( v3 `
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
# Y: {, b* D& Y% Tmedical schools." k* s5 F8 [' V u, z
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
$ T# e. }1 ]8 k& |8 L: pgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 b) |/ v- `2 A# \* h7 C$ L
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 N" c- l8 X& {( X, o
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
3 ]: t0 Q4 _7 i3 \& a3 q9 \) B2 fis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to( h! y! @ v: `% r5 s; K2 _
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There# E* v2 X! c- v/ E) D# E+ A- T
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
' F- o2 {# }& C$ }mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 \6 Y8 L: q; L) f' Y& n
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: r! F9 @% E$ r* I* S+ j$ U d& I( lsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
1 ?7 } l. q: V; k1 s d/ eprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
2 V/ |7 e q8 u4 l! r1 ]supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people8 q. a. A( u2 A0 o0 F% [" W9 H
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
3 h( s6 O) z) u. }# ^6 N- Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby6 t" W" c: B/ j# F
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
$ B$ G7 ?; K: V- L* ?: Bdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
) e9 K: g C9 T( b" v/ P2 f' JDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
1 U4 r8 d9 N( c* F* S8 ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only9 h4 i" g' B1 w; U9 Z1 `4 ^
charge the fee defined by the state.4 u: t4 r/ p( \, Z
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
2 u) X% k. e3 N* hon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" u; G; M1 v; K3 T2 D) O
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
* Y @2 H0 [- q% \# a% wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel2 `8 \2 L3 ~! k6 l* ]. ?( I5 I+ V; u
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" k, ^( g f5 s/ ]) W% x' ~; Rworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
# q& c+ D8 ^& S( vschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
( s6 l+ Y! Z6 u; T$ H; ^$ byou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people' J4 n1 E% T' F8 Y) G: B7 V$ H
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. I9 t- E9 w D; \2 g0 ~: x$ |
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that! X/ }1 `1 \) B2 f8 c0 N3 k0 u
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
8 n5 j7 Q4 ?; {3 K/ z: b% _to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or/ ~, j7 u2 f) z* i4 H+ I- o! s
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 I% C: b7 p; X
are spaces.9 X# V! W7 B; A; d4 f$ f! c3 Q
& q. B* ]( @* gThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ i" A, ^& I& wto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
: p, g" p' S0 z8 S9 b1 Uown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
4 G; ]9 t! F4 Y$ f7 G1 t% v0 e W40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different7 ]8 H7 g( b; F! O
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 g8 N7 Q: f6 s* q& M
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
2 L: S$ |! l k& M! Q. znice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
* O5 r) T: `1 Gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
6 `/ @" q ?- Y% P9 [is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
# {& g/ N/ S' S6 W& t! ?! T5 T We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
