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+ m& O J" G/ b( j/ _ D/ k6 U
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went, Z2 H- f/ i! X* M) U b( R' _2 ^
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,) |# {0 g: j' p6 X% q( U: k
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give- L1 O3 Z" `5 Y% T& Y
answers to our pointed questions.; t' ?+ p) J3 g2 D$ ~
Y! h- b' N& E' a" LThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
' T- E) A) v. E7 J# w5 J" _45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) w* [' E& ^: s3 Bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
' a. Z1 N6 l* I/ D. o" Rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams2 u* u0 @% ~. [, e D
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
- x1 |. k/ @8 j( }8 \: Umedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
5 G* Y- D( U r- ]government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& Y; ?& i6 `3 j4 y' T3 b# ]
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
1 V* {3 _* p- t+ Passigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
5 ~; N7 c( I# N9 Dis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
: ^% p( N3 U4 }+ d! q; I% y; Zover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There$ A# W- W2 |5 a: M5 U
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and J0 y9 m/ ~* n. r3 b
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
4 X' A: g' |. wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
$ |) I2 R, \' y8 O0 d; Ksugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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( C# T, R9 L0 x( Y! S0 K& y' vThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no& Z, U/ q W, ?6 `* ?' D \2 R+ [
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
% g0 t$ X5 u$ r4 {/ Osupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people/ X$ o& }4 L5 @' S T# l c
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good: w' ~! w( _4 m2 h" t
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
! R, Z8 V: `4 v7 c. J, Bsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& G. c, i4 F0 p# q) H Q% b
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
, ?" T* f& g! k, L5 u6 m" t$ G( CDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, N; ^% X; e$ i+ ]1 z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only' `# | P) }$ E) o. n$ W
charge the fee defined by the state.# n' U8 J, m3 F. E. [' Y
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 n2 e4 g' @. q' U7 B! s" don), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# N, F( H; ?+ `7 q
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
# |2 c' |8 S' {. d* wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
- c' ?& p. c: q& ]. O( I: Bseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
- G# G {+ ] p/ n' rworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on! r1 N6 v/ v/ N( H) I8 C. I4 S4 |
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
1 C; g: j, p* {6 Xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
; Y- a4 e" r* a& D' Htrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 D4 [6 I" }; s; h+ V
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
( {# g$ k! m* P1 y; g& Zpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want+ m9 K2 n- o# Y) ]# `% |% ?0 T
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or9 c% ]0 c* X# u$ G
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 v0 v& y/ a# @/ u1 q/ S. k/ pare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 M$ p: j1 ?/ P2 Z: t7 ^* M
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
6 m5 v, H) Z- ~. Rown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
7 e( w A8 |9 r. ]40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different1 b, h" T4 h" p( \0 O8 z$ X
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
$ o N; v+ Q; y1 t: R2 x+ Mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
' t$ ^4 O- A# g4 L2 {& `nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
% g. ^9 I* \5 q8 Ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 B( [! ^3 j- N1 J! T0 |is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 Y2 j* L: z; k% `/ c- o7 l4 G
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
