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% i/ Y- \( S; Y6 h3 g* N" c" ]
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
- _; Q# O1 |8 con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
: ?" q' n, N9 o. K. b, R; m) i% Q G0 @"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give; D& t( w' W: y9 B/ m" x( f
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
4 f) j, M1 X1 h) e5 d45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand6 }# c }- P3 A
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
3 n! r; H( z& Ufree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ h8 U# _. |$ t3 f* Q' |
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are* y. q- {- K5 [/ |9 n& I
medical schools.6 r3 B9 l/ `' d+ I$ i# \/ v/ P9 l4 p) o. b% j
# K9 q, ?/ P% s' D) R6 q; KEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the! Y; z8 t% D j
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 |* w7 V2 K* s' `' @, u b4 ^to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
8 @, ?* u/ G: O3 Aassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
0 [5 \) @% c# ?& Q" his from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
! ]8 ~* a. L6 {4 {+ D i3 nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There4 Y& s; w1 x( k8 C; H# h% C
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and9 s% ^7 [- f$ {. U
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
: @( C) f) R" n) z" ?; j) _" xshortage which the government is addressing by converting some6 \0 N/ a: `& f, ^+ [8 Y) W
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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$ ] k( o( l+ ?% N% o% g! f9 l6 |The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ J: y4 h0 Y0 ]1 `) q0 r$ J
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: i+ b" a d% G: B0 x4 ~1 D
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! A, o/ n% l' M m/ A0 `
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 }1 L' k/ b7 O5 E7 r/ @- {( Q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
/ C, x( p0 R. ?' b6 H, I& g: Ksitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 d% M4 ]% K/ \7 S' u! G vdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 }( Z2 L5 G4 l6 n! u& t- ~
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
' X* ^4 x4 i6 L' ]: @; g8 _9 Na lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 o0 ?5 @, K4 G4 gcharge the fee defined by the state.
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/ U* c6 t* m/ JThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ L5 W: |7 Z1 G) o
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
L8 t. U7 b6 v. M7 Xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
$ r% T1 e" e) O! K' H2 `truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 p" }6 w5 Q4 Q( x* z. N1 a4 \
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' R8 R4 l+ R4 K
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
2 D/ z6 N- }. s" _& Uschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 b# v% g/ \; p
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" i" y: |0 R: w, X5 Y) z+ e+ m
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch; {. e5 ]) B0 O
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 o+ v2 r7 [4 k5 g7 m3 k
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
: H. A0 U U& J$ v7 Z( Ito go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 C0 b, d( R a2 |
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
- U$ i7 K/ X/ ~) C8 w) S" R, U, P2 j3 yare spaces.1 |; O( @7 W+ i( x0 d4 d. m
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
/ U* w( A' J8 S: P" s5 [7 Dto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% S5 @0 K% ~7 T- E1 J8 ?7 D- I8 mown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! L- P6 H! m% @& {
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& `& F5 j" z# _' b
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the% Z1 [1 ?0 _9 B; x8 {2 W
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) v8 c5 W, [1 ?# S0 |9 i
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
) K: @* d3 ]/ |) i( U3 A9 N, Xcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
9 K' u' c$ e% V5 ^+ W0 P, jis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
H( w: ?1 o4 Q6 e We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
