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
. q5 f/ M9 Y7 j. @( Zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 {" K7 y5 _6 \+ ~* ^# }( Pon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,8 I0 V1 J! ^4 K
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: f( f% I' a; \! x: |" |
answers to our pointed questions.# z/ X6 o/ n6 h8 b$ y, e A. c. o. E5 F
+ A& S E, C% w; @The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
1 Z1 ?2 o2 N5 q3 f( [( g45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand& L: {7 ]; T5 x) g
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
0 ^( A& d8 X' F# Q9 K6 V u1 O% d Tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
1 Z& N. j6 O$ P e3 M/ f6 Dto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 I3 g. b6 d7 I* y' Zmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
. g- h& s9 T5 E( kgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
4 l8 f+ T _* u. ?to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 N9 w4 }, i6 d. i6 P
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: F I* e% S$ L+ B9 V% V. q
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to" Z4 a" ^# C5 V% H
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There2 o8 W1 F% k% Z0 l9 i. v2 l
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and0 G, `' O' a. f8 E5 ^2 J
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
9 }) |* w) j0 B, w. R2 F' y# V! u+ kshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
5 |! ?: W$ a8 `% usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.% c, f; K1 b) \ Q0 P) N4 G( P
/ h e' [. y3 o# k; v0 p9 pThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
1 U* B9 [; s! Q( o5 _private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
" C2 w4 j, y. K" Tsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people# L* b, F" y* O& Z& O; S7 `
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
: K3 H; ]% b, `' ]1 ~7 q9 j- d: @thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
$ H0 ]; b9 \7 ]/ W; Dsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
# Z9 v( A. M2 z8 Q$ m/ |divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.; s4 L. n* z2 g3 \& O
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
0 F1 L) K3 e) D' Ca lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
1 C; E" s2 L1 }% ?charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 b; v0 J5 [- q2 c5 ^on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
_; g# v& f9 p; T+ v# S+ fof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
4 C, Q# S& {! F! Dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel" Z$ d6 @ o! r0 I2 v5 ~
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
' N2 a: u+ w# i, K# c5 U" G- x4 A& iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
1 l% b$ Z( o" a0 dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
( ?! j: X8 W' ?* M1 V' tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
) C u3 n+ }# Utrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
" Z" G# Y2 X6 Q4 C2 c: Phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# \$ b+ H7 \; i% T$ R5 L/ A
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) ~# L- p# r/ Q7 u% s/ l0 ?to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or/ ~2 }5 h8 T4 i: h* v; u
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
! f; v8 K' M) iare spaces.: I C; V, [, C* u) A
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi' }- y! m; b. N4 j8 t' Z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& c' L; O @% g2 }
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the/ }3 j- S7 A) v6 Z% T- j: s. G; S' V
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
f V. [* h6 y2 @: z; }parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 B" B, T: h/ R$ _( P7 k; `best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few* V' F, q$ z! k, e& O
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 w) w/ O% [' Y- b4 R+ X$ e
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
: m0 [$ O. J$ Ais a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.; \9 M/ K1 m8 q( J' @+ ]: b$ M; t. Q
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
