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
9 i! q6 o6 C+ J) W" cstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 h7 K/ s/ k9 m+ E- z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
+ I0 {6 C% {# n6 p"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% s, Y( ]% B$ D5 S, l6 y
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, Q' _5 F! Z$ m* L9 L% K+ U1 \
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. D+ Y( a, e" A* f' N
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: Y6 @3 Q, P- e# Hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams: G+ @8 k |* X7 V% j
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are+ ]; P7 {0 W" c; A: A1 D3 H' X+ g
medical schools.
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0 P$ d# w; l2 REvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
$ o! p1 d3 S t! qgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* g6 p5 X4 v5 x; q
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; p4 w& t4 E- C( L+ [4 Y, massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
$ Z8 o0 }% ?) m, ?. O, {* C+ Xis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
9 q$ k( Y) ~: U, u: Bover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There- ^6 h" p+ j, R5 _1 ]
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and! u; i t2 C5 C, b( H- o R/ V
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
+ w8 b6 n& r) b& o$ ushortage which the government is addressing by converting some( I* c% |( j% U: i" T% ~) |0 V
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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2 A/ E$ {% ]) ]- c! EThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
- n2 q6 g* b K, Jprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 u J* p; u. H4 O/ @: g
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, o+ }- I7 ?% qhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good1 K) W3 b* G3 Z5 |8 R$ {
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* o4 _( \4 b6 a0 z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high% X" @: H1 @8 N2 {5 d
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.3 f0 l& p t, B; B4 r2 l
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
. U4 V) x& q' r5 s X0 oa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
" |1 l$ ~+ R: L" ycharge the fee defined by the state.( v6 [; x! J( \. G# X: M1 F8 d
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get7 l2 q! L4 |3 ~+ ~: o' \
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
% B% k u6 s& I( ^( Nof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ f! n& _8 \1 }' l/ L& ?truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
0 _" v0 d9 i6 \seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
. t: v; C, ~/ p! t7 F4 t4 eworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on4 {' L1 @! H$ x+ M
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
( Z- K( r ?0 e' E7 ^8 K* `you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 K$ p4 x P L- \
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( m* C, v/ B" Y$ H( j0 B1 h o
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that: ?7 z9 N3 s0 `* t: L* W
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want+ @% ^6 F6 Z. A
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 D: H+ j; X0 F2 ~3 W a
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there7 ]: k' J0 x U7 V
are spaces.$ @. C+ M3 T k1 h) X. [* y
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 I* m" j' {' h5 ^
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
: v! R, Y2 n: i% X5 @/ `3 A. Down a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the- J1 a _, |# Z, W, `' x/ M- [
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% q" ^# Y7 M. K# ]% S
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
: ~ s q9 K; E. T( Sbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
8 V8 G z" G& Jnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
9 V# Y# ~: Q* K: c _0 m z" d K# ]( ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
. k$ ^, P6 g1 G; Pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
% z' e; U2 x5 `- M We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
