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
2 ]8 J' B' ? y' |& B0 b) `standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 s' p) \. q* H; `7 V; Ion a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,* n8 I( w u- Q3 I% x
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 M6 j) r. T/ o0 |
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; z' P/ O% I5 o, }4 o% b. @
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; p" e, G) Z$ Z( x6 b# \2 v
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: e" x$ {- H, y' I( xfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
2 e+ r0 v. ]* Ato get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are; K& m0 T3 Q) R. J
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
+ d% T% u+ H- e* q9 @0 Ugovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- w$ y/ [9 d8 m: N/ `" @
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; W. l7 E5 f$ @: Qassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
+ }6 j: D0 ?: s7 ]% `9 o; h8 kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 C7 `) [+ _2 q( ]- \# c2 Z: D
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There; S. g( M# |% K2 V5 X" b( ?1 Z3 d
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and% x7 i/ v8 N! r8 b" v
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk* l4 J6 O5 ?6 K, f- I! l! S6 S
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, B& z# q, u8 a* Rsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! X8 R4 ]' P, z: `2 R* r& E
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( u/ v: C& m- L+ x& _private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
. Q8 z, B3 \9 [& Ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people+ j i0 c3 S) ?4 S$ ~6 t( D
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good6 ]1 o" l+ O3 R M: H8 U: O
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
7 C. j/ Z0 B! Isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
. y( m& W, P( o+ z1 G' p! H6 Bdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
( F2 o% P. _* j& `2 h5 w5 oDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When h; T# v" S2 [4 H9 C M
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only7 o* o$ f: F% m9 z3 H. r! S9 z
charge the fee defined by the state.
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9 v' S6 |5 X5 G, Y; P5 RThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 z5 g+ g' x0 I- Q8 l
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
6 n! s3 c1 i6 {( cof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
* n, M# u; s( _( H) e7 Ftruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 x0 M# U3 P$ c! P8 V- \2 z& ?
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the, s5 Z# j5 R: j6 p! x- K* p. L0 R' I
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
2 T/ ^5 P: I+ ?) ]7 E8 f( v7 xschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
1 ?) I! F I3 l0 B: w. |$ ^you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people; I+ a: c5 G5 o# f
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 m2 x1 U1 s/ q5 J- g8 ^* G/ xhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# C% T+ L/ D5 g' K' j7 k g, p
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want. a( _# `9 M+ |. ]* ]! T5 A/ M: }
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or# @5 i. @: ]& x
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
t* Z7 m0 y& o( C5 qare spaces.7 W: ?% f+ ]" n. T3 ]( K
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 ]/ d$ X0 {8 N/ f' r& y+ M
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* o4 l _. }! z
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
9 U6 S8 i7 ^* M) D3 |/ h40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& N/ t$ X/ w( _; Y" {1 {
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 J& ~! D6 n4 s2 c' P: p1 Y
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ u" C# h# Y3 Q: Z& U! g3 |
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 e$ \' @% z- o' Ecar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
! ~9 D. _ G. y$ b+ x$ ~0 Lis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.% x1 M& E, S/ p+ n& k" Q0 A% I
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
