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' F7 H9 q( ^' bstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
$ f9 f+ }3 a9 P8 eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' Y1 n" Z! u+ p8 W
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ S, E$ U7 B: `" P# m. }; E
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,/ _# W9 _) W4 F4 g+ X6 @
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
; k$ I& k7 E/ E( l$ Rout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
% W- j2 A0 {1 F/ g5 d3 Qfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
, B' |8 N& v3 \) L( [% f ^+ dto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are8 f! ~/ I! Y t( z+ K: N
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: |8 q4 a/ y6 [# l$ N4 ^government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants+ O2 m6 z! Q; v$ H+ U( o5 L5 T
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
! g) @5 A' ^ S9 P+ Q) M- T" oassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# i- S {2 n! @& `2 kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to9 X1 m3 A3 K- C0 u" E
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There) f' K2 j4 }. G; _
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
* b; U# z0 c) o) Omostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& x# J# E: [. r& Z) Lshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
; {% X8 E2 P/ Y7 c% {4 n( wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.3 B, x7 t, G( ]: m
+ m! j% n9 A/ |- r6 mThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no8 L0 l( l9 r4 m q0 g1 P$ T" a7 I$ v# R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and) @4 q5 o7 w" x% l
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 X& n' [& Q- Ghave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ ]' J5 |2 u) ]8 k1 J% H& c. Bthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
9 E6 v! u; x( O- A. L X* xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
8 Y- d9 C% w5 j8 O# ydivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
! D6 y( Z2 i& e( W7 kDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When @; Z8 x) g' Q8 ~+ o) W% H, y' l; S
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
) E0 G, a* ], L6 U8 }6 O1 A; Acharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ @# M4 s( O. F* ~; ]) g3 I
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type1 ^) W' L+ G* b4 p" m* Z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big+ a; H# L4 o+ c
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
% n' a' [ o5 \- V& Zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
; {( o4 t8 Y" }& f# ~ Jworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on( Y' h# t( t: ~4 z `: p7 t
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
# r3 c! _& W) N" T3 N) e2 J/ M" a( ?you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
8 q& R( C- i: `$ ptrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
( V, g8 T1 L. i" F5 A V" A3 _hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
5 f! t! G6 N" Xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want7 z9 h* P+ d# F: Y$ Y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 X# ]- f. b" W x4 u8 n+ o
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there g. |" \( y. d0 [ ^9 e
are spaces.
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`- S9 N" t P0 x4 hThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
: F0 l8 k9 c+ O0 _ {3 w" xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
, N0 p$ D* t, K' w6 [- r' H6 ^own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 N6 e; f# L: Q; z$ S. q
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# O1 Z: w) V4 D* U- U
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
/ T$ D9 Y! o; K! W; @' @/ j/ fbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few7 W1 d! r* |2 S+ r% o
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of, e ]; R$ W2 A/ b8 L
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
$ w5 P0 Q5 b: H/ \is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.# ?9 R6 p; W* G1 d' i
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
