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
* j( T3 U( q; F& V6 nstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went( s2 f) g u8 s O9 [
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
2 R* d0 M, E7 c8 S"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 H( G2 W$ ]0 y# D2 V5 x& O! Z
answers to our pointed questions.$ | X+ {3 Y9 f, L# u
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. S' l! I, T |8 d9 Y' i% i
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
3 G) b' Z' `" E4 T& f) S) qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
6 ]% ?( i$ L6 g* O: H2 e2 Wfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams& |0 w$ _- L1 L% e. X
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 |$ H3 V; [& }4 }
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
( J; C; m) V' U9 m% j! E* o. C$ ?$ Ngovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
! V4 [% P/ H' }8 g9 {* B5 U& Vto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
, s5 B; t5 ?9 |assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba' z% q5 i6 y4 o! z6 J; I' `
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
) A0 x6 [1 [) R& P5 b: S* T' w5 R5 E; fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There2 i, `0 g& R, ~/ C% y
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and: W# \# H7 w. a) b- K
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" V& r) W8 I$ l0 z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some% b6 M5 A/ q4 y+ F' E
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
/ |$ S% r( R0 b/ f$ Sprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and8 `+ n) ?* \- g, ~5 D/ y; U; P# `
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
4 q6 z, i3 L0 t8 fhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good/ K: c' f1 `; T8 [2 w; k& n0 `- T9 c: h
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ P/ [ A1 G5 m; u5 q$ ?2 Lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high2 A/ B6 s) [" g) k4 W
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 E. h, S) S0 n) I, R+ JDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
# D$ F. k. I4 `0 P- `a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 W' Q4 n6 ]( ~" ^ M9 x3 ^
charge the fee defined by the state.
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$ Z* Z( n7 B7 p4 _! XThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: F7 H3 ]6 P. x1 z- ^* o
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
4 ]$ f6 h- ~% v8 F6 L- Eof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! P+ R9 _% D9 I0 b# K" otruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ O% U) K) ^, Z5 b& v; T' [
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the& Z n" [. Y7 W2 C9 W7 F
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
* a. Z! ~/ z6 I7 Uschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: w4 s$ S2 g' U6 E0 X1 W
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people7 j# S; V2 w& c; A
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
, D# k+ \1 K+ `hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
; w7 K( @) g- h% F+ k" S, Apeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 V$ t# i3 Q$ e% i5 G" O
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 G \) k4 ?- v, a$ |
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! m. n3 P; W% \1 P" O( P" y* T
are spaces.
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" e" [9 ~ g" | E; qThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
/ F; g* b, W: x/ }2 Hto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they1 M9 T v' k. q. c* P4 u
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the `% M( N5 L; c* S. X6 L! U8 k
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ N! x; k5 u5 E
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 N* Q$ W4 y" j0 g1 p% Mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few0 i0 t2 \ `- F7 b! a* n6 @
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
" `6 s: q1 Q" p, F, R" f2 |, w, ?2 acar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 y$ v8 s2 F+ Z! [) ^# Y! c. Tis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
- a5 v* x s7 ~! U We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
