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
. Z% B1 s# h' {' l2 T% j9 n& X0 [: Ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went S! T6 b8 P, B0 Y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' n5 u% y: Q2 u4 t
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ G$ Z4 [) Y7 D
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
( @ u. t: X( G0 z5 J% J3 Z; @45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
" J. ^4 n. f2 M# X3 e) l1 l' jout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
, {1 X9 L) e' k' d* y% cfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
: x4 a' p! J/ w3 h- _to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; P* o' k# s' k+ q2 d1 z* Y5 xmedical schools.1 Q( {9 k' V: M1 X0 t$ i( z% u3 E0 U
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
; k! n- D3 F) t2 ~government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
1 \- g$ y' ^, T; Lto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
+ C4 R6 z6 x% k+ e0 l; Rassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
9 t" o, K6 b/ ?+ B- E1 t1 I' n; dis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to/ g/ ^4 h K7 g* {3 R4 K
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
# e1 m- o$ f# i- gseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 @" j; q4 X* \: @8 F
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk3 ~( w% |! ]+ K) c
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some/ Y, Z# C2 u& M$ I; Q. u
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 D3 I* J' N$ p4 X
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no& [) I5 X+ q) c
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and" P* w0 N" u; e! e, v
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
- b* Q8 N" F% q1 N: xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good( c' {, b/ c* P6 L$ U
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
0 Y a! d+ i% T0 i! b5 vsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
' h8 b1 P* V0 p8 o2 X3 T' g$ |2 ^divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
) V! C7 C0 u7 a. q" @6 ]0 @Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When$ z" V K! o' j
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: D5 N( y2 A+ z4 o( F4 u
charge the fee defined by the state.
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- h. H* d+ [; t- i: V& D# f: tThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get6 C4 q2 I# h2 p) X: B0 |% H. [
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
" A) Q, t8 @3 u1 K# u7 d& \of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# p6 L! ]+ C* w6 I( w7 e- w# m- U
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
' d6 k) t, @3 }seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! r3 a5 a# @' e e$ O% o
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on1 Z4 Q3 d6 D P& z8 L7 J" P
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' K" J0 M2 m. `- i3 M7 I% tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 m; \2 ?) ]. T: c0 l
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
; ?" J5 z. A" v$ ~) {hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- M/ i, L8 \7 ^/ b @+ e
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
/ A* n# Z9 e3 I5 m3 xto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or9 @3 s% |7 B* V$ p! j9 A' y
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
5 w& I: T' L! X3 \* m- K, vare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi- s# N# X/ y' v: v- c
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 O7 T: B" R+ m: `
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ v n/ e! ^7 I40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ g8 t$ x& k2 s7 p$ @
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
, c T# j( t* r- M ~best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 R# R- h% [# k) w& D' O
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of) G- f6 d. x( H4 y
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
- n9 C) L) w9 i; b5 b5 Q$ P8 Lis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 ]4 J' r8 @% g6 ^: L We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
