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
8 ]2 a g6 j. a, f$ [standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 L3 S5 w, u' x. O. t) M
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
! y3 ?) {; }* I; S0 _' o"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& F1 T5 ^5 u4 h
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
" @. B; P* I" c, I45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand6 j4 j$ Z1 Z) s' E& a/ C
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
) w& g+ S* [* D; g# b% jfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
% W9 D0 g; L* S6 [* Nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; d' j5 _' H4 b- \% {* ]9 l% b$ Hmedical schools.
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- x+ X1 l4 T3 r$ l/ U: P) hEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 n0 I. i' q# l1 W' G! \5 i1 k' ^$ r0 {
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants; X/ i' e$ X. E0 a$ m
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
7 w) z- s6 [0 L2 n: }* Xassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 }# Z! Z) h; a" { I" t+ [( y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
# w# U) D/ G# d) _' Yover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
0 M7 x7 \+ M( X2 o! K8 p& W8 bseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
r7 ], P8 M0 \& f. O) ^2 [5 s: emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk$ J$ L0 t- C6 w( F4 e/ ?9 ^ H
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
- E0 ]. n3 N! q( t4 s: D* ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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+ }( a5 l! r6 b4 j" IThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
5 z6 ~' A8 s0 ]; P" e2 [) h; Iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and2 T4 E/ C8 s0 R% a' P, E# E& W
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 j% Z/ b2 J8 K: E2 K) e! Y" x
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
, q1 f0 R; c8 J) N2 wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
. N- L, k! w0 V. g) t ysitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
" z0 R) J/ u' P! R* ndivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 f+ J) T M1 z, \! p% d" @8 D0 P
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
. U0 Q! i1 f0 Ma lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& c& Y8 k _* N. Y$ O1 Dcharge the fee defined by the state.( q7 i5 G" M5 U; I% ~% x
, }6 X+ |3 [9 g, E ^There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
9 l" s s1 `4 w4 n, Mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
" R4 M& m, a* O8 c2 Hof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big( ^7 v# Z( `# \
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( q' H! O- M. K( U
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
2 U# F+ d4 I/ a. xworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 s! g! [: m+ n( J- {5 x M, @: z
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 x7 K1 l: r1 R5 y7 o7 o& Z" {
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 T# G, x" n9 s# U- t9 O/ q& \7 G
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
+ p0 W" |4 H) h* X- m/ [2 lhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
e/ P" [5 n' bpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want$ B3 |4 l6 I7 A7 e* Z, V7 ?: O
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or4 {8 C& X" _+ A6 B. }. }' i, l
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 D, C1 _7 X W+ f
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi! q) e/ Y$ v, a: F
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 X/ H% \0 c/ g( Z7 I4 \
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
3 t+ O& k$ y6 z- s40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' C& j% m8 c& z, mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 n" j" e- l! m; P* o+ g7 U8 W
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 I" r8 i( h7 t9 E& B/ b
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
, x; t1 M" A# r, l, |$ Bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ P0 t: [) f4 s- Z; v3 t$ g
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.1 i \6 y8 a w$ o- O
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
