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& S! g3 T. l d" ~" I3 U% Y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went; d! @. c7 U: ^8 p$ l
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
" {* H- O- ]! m$ H"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
% F6 d+ a1 x2 r. s& janswers to our pointed questions.1 d" c4 P% N% k y/ V! v& a
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,3 L W- `: e* d# x
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
$ f. @8 I2 l" N3 Dout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
" F, e0 Y. a* c9 z/ D5 A/ n* f( pfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
" z- Q- c0 t; k8 I1 H8 jto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: ^' J* j# J, ?+ X# r) Z( S# Emedical schools.% z( b2 i: t) }3 ?* {/ E
* K1 D, f# Z. X: ~1 p5 g$ KEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the* }& J8 V3 z2 u
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
8 x! d( K7 [2 x3 F7 F yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 r* ?: M" \. w$ ~2 m
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba4 E0 ~4 n4 r+ ~) X8 z
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
# e2 E4 l& P7 M8 {( {over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% j, U5 w) R) {' S! ^- b* U
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, H+ Z6 W6 V3 ?! i
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk3 V5 H2 u3 J( i. r- K( W9 Q
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
1 F/ z- G& l* b3 l6 |sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no; t w0 y0 W. ~8 R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
+ I" G G, X8 P) M% C& |! qsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
6 w0 E3 m2 i% w( A) e0 m Whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good1 C7 e. L6 S3 o& `" X/ t
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: F! R$ _5 f; m) r# Z. _' |% g
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( g% o3 B+ v8 q& H: I; ?0 x; g
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.3 F6 T. R! q8 n" J% E/ ~; Y
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 U" H( ]5 v+ m5 i, Oa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only0 n* Y# t3 y d9 }; e
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) L3 I3 G" v7 V0 Q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type' b$ r: `: _& T0 l' E
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" ~/ k( C+ v; ~" j
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel6 R- L( q( R* K) j& c
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
; j q: k$ r6 |" w. v4 a/ mworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 K6 E# W2 @3 {8 b* |
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 p/ O8 I, P4 |+ H+ n
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
' |/ p% G( z2 \2 P& u0 u+ utrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch7 t" T2 t7 V$ i- a; Q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
/ ?0 \4 r2 b! Zpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
' l! f2 {! p! ~- d- `0 ito go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) k3 g/ K7 D0 I/ l2 L( o# a
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there7 _/ i* \- n7 j; E: i# y- u
are spaces.
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8 h9 ^$ \2 q- P; |There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
/ L! U }6 |+ N9 k& Bto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
0 G }: M5 | W9 t1 [& `9 `# V, nown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the- S- Q, O6 M/ z0 i6 e6 z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& d9 Q& U6 v& B$ K" K1 R
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 Y: }; N. A0 q, u6 g( h6 `: l8 p
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" B6 [7 y" I- _7 Ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
0 v. V" B* H7 H8 R' o$ Wcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it1 |6 n1 X% N: l$ ^' F# ]
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
% e; N! ~7 A0 ~& {1 |6 ]3 B4 I: X6 m We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
