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
# E& K1 ?7 M3 d3 xstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went3 c2 a" U) b" F& U' P6 s# K, v
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,2 ]3 [! d# V6 u( }3 x
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 `7 e6 @& A" ]: n# [+ b- q
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
( F$ D6 d+ I+ F45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand/ C8 A8 K' R7 y6 n
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is* Z9 \' o+ @0 q# I& A. Z3 V: W
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
8 Q! C1 Y* V3 [, J" {2 }3 i Nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are+ ]8 F6 Z8 W$ y* c" E- c
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
' Y2 g, ~/ R6 P- G5 q, |1 T3 Rgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
. }- ?. y2 w! D ]5 z2 z" A* g+ mto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% u- F& [& x& t2 u+ b& }
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
3 u B- J. f2 b/ Q. d! Q2 D$ |is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to/ @) G0 l O3 y6 N: D- w
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
3 ~. h3 v( B9 n7 ?* S% Hseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 [4 O% |# t* I' P# j; P& J& Imostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
) f) T5 Y5 W+ _$ {0 `. bshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
! H. j0 z) V' @$ hsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no+ n: p7 G1 ~) d. n# h+ q! M9 R5 e
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and2 |' r9 Y' ^" R2 S) B! y' j
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
1 R9 R: _, B: [# p7 thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* [* k" x Y! U1 J
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby) C- U' U# j9 y5 Q% x* m
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high% |2 P( c& P% R6 F. K, I
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.+ U4 u: a+ t& w6 F W3 A, @
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
, m5 _8 G `, da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
7 _& n R/ _4 Y+ @charge the fee defined by the state.
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2 ~$ e$ J1 R/ O( U1 T+ i5 Z5 `There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
7 S; |6 o/ e% H* [0 Con), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
7 K3 W5 W5 y* Y6 b% Xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: K/ _! k, i6 t* o( mtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
1 q! K7 c' @0 F& Hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the e# ?1 M# k# C' g8 [4 v( p
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
! k/ W. z$ s$ X# s* T$ Zschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, Y* Z) [6 o" a# ^+ ]# Z/ Q
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
- J; }3 b) u* ~; ~& L! \" E$ `4 Xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" \2 K& a) ?! R
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 v& T6 {- Q) g- i' c5 r6 o- h3 h$ R
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want( y" p! U- ?+ L
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' }! _* q# |( H! h7 cbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
$ u5 v! O& Q0 Pare spaces. O" l4 }8 k' Q1 I1 N# R) n
) o3 n- R6 K b" G$ G8 T( oThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
1 {4 i% p5 F& d- I1 o$ u! m( Zto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) p- h7 A5 n* t& M/ x! f
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& I. @% q# S; y! [; u! L
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! v O( g& G) C' E' Y/ Y
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the, M( K+ j, e- O7 }* p& ?% H0 Y
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
1 O" \) C( w9 v1 Znice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of. x5 I2 G/ N$ Z, _+ `$ M, K6 u
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it* k" u9 k# _& h( R
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: L/ w# w8 m# d! f' D
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
