我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living6 x9 \- H' s* l* S8 o
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
9 b" L9 p6 [1 \; `' }; k, R& Kon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
% N+ _7 u% @8 d N$ T"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
6 v k& r% H! Yanswers to our pointed questions.
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$ ?$ J+ y# r1 k/ {The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& r. S7 p% A# K0 s: i, I0 `
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand, d8 ^+ r% n2 E0 D
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is" I. O% j( T( p+ k5 C/ e4 }* S
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 p7 ] U, O! N V$ x5 d/ Y
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are- I) V; t7 h% g
medical schools.; \" d' `5 f! i
5 I, ]8 H' v! }7 \! N/ ^Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ W+ g9 c. s7 X) L! u( G
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 O7 [/ l, [% b7 B$ l
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
" Z: r0 X7 s& b1 L8 ~ N8 L, B2 Oassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, v; D3 b% e7 D% c: d wis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to" Q$ B! T3 N! _2 Z7 B
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! F4 H3 s g$ @seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and% l A& @- L9 U, l1 x3 h) u' s
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk1 [$ i% Y4 }. G, U5 X
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
. K/ P8 a, o( B- m; C& H' Nsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 T; D' E3 P6 g* b1 z7 t/ \
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and0 Q, `: Y/ q, O! L
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people8 ]% N8 T; ? t. a S5 L1 n
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good% D2 x b1 ]5 i: ^& Q0 D, w5 _
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 h( Y; b" Z3 wsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high6 |/ R: X4 T3 |* y# x4 I
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
, y7 o5 p! d4 [" zDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
9 R% _6 y9 j5 y3 @* M+ g* |/ k G, va lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
) H, ?1 T- ]2 Y9 O2 Qcharge the fee defined by the state.$ ~/ ` w5 i( H& K
$ L" ^! O6 x; D' l5 O6 GThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
2 p8 e" \$ s0 N. N. E" Pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
9 s* p+ B! q) E% H. Zof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, F" Y6 D8 T7 ^+ N& {truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
( F' x$ X0 X0 y# @9 t! W& J9 Eseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; Z- T3 Y; j, v2 d
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' [4 g9 A3 \' @1 P9 y
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, F/ r/ Y" L9 N$ K& m
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. Q& A1 U6 F! W+ a: strying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# M& D% n! G8 \( S& T: |7 khiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that* z8 {7 n% _( B7 Y+ f1 D
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want$ @+ V0 y! G- ?0 F
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' `. t, c2 r1 z& c4 {& d8 dbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ R6 X' s$ w# B6 Y, U" d
are spaces.# j4 M$ ^, Z, m* |8 ]6 T! z' C
! c- Y, P$ N% ^6 e3 t% ]6 |There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi W0 R/ B" D# W2 G! n0 m# c- L
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they, I6 K% u0 G' B: J9 x: N P
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
* Q# Q5 ]- i1 o/ U. k40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 h3 m* a3 b( @8 h* T3 a X7 s
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 x8 Y% `7 y1 X# N r- ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ l7 [3 v9 {1 h% E/ p, }
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
+ o+ D% p) [& d, B7 K5 Wcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" k5 M" K( x% r9 Gis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 E% V: f/ U* K6 I0 d4 I) f We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
