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$ W. c4 Z) z6 |0 o G) Z. K. W# D* ]
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- a, t' ]# x2 b$ @" t4 P8 e3 d
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; v# [) m7 @4 F& N
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give9 H; z8 F4 j/ R+ }1 Q* B8 a
answers to our pointed questions.7 z# m/ v" N- `+ F9 ^- v7 n
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,' c3 [% i# p8 b
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
Z6 H0 p5 O) ]& eout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# s* v' z# K6 X' @7 o( ]( O5 `
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. W( R, Q( w9 s; Ito get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
3 H2 s+ Y9 D! h! e$ ^" V& Nmedical schools.! L! y* K+ Z, d* |8 H
" A1 O7 p p& vEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
0 G# K6 G0 [5 C8 t( s9 q) ^6 R6 Zgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 f6 q5 d0 `3 i: |& v2 u. T$ n
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' E6 F5 U" ^/ \assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
+ V- G- _/ x; S$ h; jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 r, z2 D( p$ o& x. p6 v5 {' ^. V
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There5 b% L, u# r: I) ]) r
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
" S" _$ E) i+ y( M) W3 A6 i* Cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" R, f2 [, }: i* R
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
- p3 R3 M. o. X X3 xsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.3 x0 P: F3 I, ^3 Y) P, \2 g
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no8 Y1 N6 P) T0 A4 z! J
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, N7 N S& M# j7 z# V6 E. m
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
: o& w1 {9 i( L1 [# p) q4 |5 bhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good& Y3 ~! c5 w8 }! d; e
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
1 J* i6 d3 D2 N/ U) s' Tsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( s& y( Y4 M# u+ M/ A/ X0 a
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% I' `* z. y0 u1 K9 ?0 m' _0 Y7 X2 Z; \
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When- B0 Y% h4 k& o' S. o
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% A) R0 x- x% _& S
charge the fee defined by the state.% `& T; M# |$ X/ e+ F( b
8 w) i7 e" _6 l/ t. x4 ZThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" V0 U4 W' L! u' q' a/ eon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, u; r; P% K, `! J
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
V: U- Z, i* m" V3 l0 qtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel& K: o: y7 Z+ e
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the) l- V+ X# e& [5 ~9 I% ?
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: O6 m5 _. B' B$ S# R
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 j1 M5 m2 v- l6 ?& \
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people, B0 P# F E0 o6 K3 ]
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
' ]$ Z& J! ~+ _2 C2 Shiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that+ T; Q! h$ Z. n0 R# C% p$ l, ?! X
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want. m- @8 U( m* Z3 P
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or6 G) [9 \) M2 K0 k
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
$ C I% L% C/ a6 F1 D9 L5 |1 l Bare spaces.
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! R1 }0 r6 Q- o" a/ YThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 W" u& X/ {# G( B0 g: R
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 ]( Z p/ e6 @" _
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the/ H* q5 w! h' T0 G& O7 C
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 R+ l8 z& Y7 j2 r. ~9 L) B
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 q; m& @; v; ~best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
/ G# i1 k' t xnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
1 Z- `$ K x) C2 C" Xcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
5 p& l) N; [+ w d- v7 zis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
7 v4 Q% f m; }! q9 L3 X( e0 n9 S We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
