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; C: W- T! ?8 F
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) y5 J" ~8 W: l; m( U% z I) `
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,0 U5 ]( J# ^& e. _4 w2 k/ j
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ _) V( k, T9 t, Q
answers to our pointed questions.; `0 O {4 k# a4 C9 d$ H
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
+ q& Q. j7 c3 F' g& M: E45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# w; z8 J& W; x* d! z; n
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is: P7 U! L Z, a
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
/ r# ?( [0 _1 V2 p% V% Kto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" Z0 ^) L% H* c% t1 \. `. n% }+ x0 [
medical schools.
a5 [$ X; R) a
) L$ m5 a' `$ o7 ?' D: Z) R0 vEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
" O4 e' u; j0 s! D" t* \ zgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants5 B& N7 j3 s$ R: T
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
* M: |5 A3 o! X) m" g) {8 massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- D/ F6 i2 W- z0 R: Y7 F9 l( B
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
# M7 d, T V8 U5 uover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There2 U% B% H4 B/ I
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
: U6 A- f: V; J% A5 u) T0 N) Rmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
0 y. i; x) m/ ^9 V- Fshortage which the government is addressing by converting some) p `9 T) U- A; \$ z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) }* r+ V1 \- i- W# K# D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and$ J3 b! U7 O Y+ ^: a' {& Y& o" q
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 p; |& Q0 N9 v) |' k/ n- Ahave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
2 k% j0 X$ {. L5 z/ \# k# C" @8 ything about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 Q4 G3 g! L0 W/ W0 y" e8 Qsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high7 F# p- m; z% y, m; F! V9 V" B
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
- G7 y- P9 ?1 n8 V4 B: `% aDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
8 E- w) W! b; n6 z+ s% Aa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only$ l$ G- }. {; K/ K
charge the fee defined by the state.- V3 d% ]* M9 Y& U) Q0 m
/ h; v/ m* }% HThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
. @7 f' ~: X) O8 con), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
& f0 W. L* D+ xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
0 ^+ o% s, ~# D6 ^7 D \7 Ctruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ c! j6 C6 _% p. Y% b* K) Z
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the5 M( E/ k( }8 o& i' r5 q& r) z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
- V) F. j- U1 U' J p* pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
. d. ^" U" b, k1 ~' Oyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
2 {" T5 j- u0 P, Ttrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
- Y7 U/ X( h3 b% k$ Rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" X# o- K) Z6 V$ Bpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
' H6 T+ Z7 D1 r0 f3 \! W3 t+ rto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' C, C7 V% l) W# B5 M% f$ Y0 ~buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 ]9 s0 C0 { t
are spaces.. Z) G* e( k- L5 j. Z, e
0 A: B1 H1 g/ t1 G% q. c: r2 wThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
0 t6 O: N; T5 ?0 nto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& W7 ]0 ~# g5 K3 A1 U- X% @
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- l- {8 R/ U4 s i40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
0 A" G* A' q( B" ^2 F9 r$ Yparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
% L3 Y" j4 u, X3 bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% k/ Q& @, r) Q# T7 ?9 b3 f
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of6 E: \9 v+ q8 K* F
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
% t& ]) o. P% xis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.( J( C2 O' [4 ^6 R* m
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
