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/ `% S% g* F; K
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
2 Z+ R# x8 y& Con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: O) X7 m, R0 v8 @& M# @3 ]
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give7 |1 k/ l% T9 K; t. T: U5 L& b
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
. n; Q5 ^2 Z f1 _45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( I& X7 u( d: N1 E0 I: Z Qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 c6 f6 W1 ]8 e/ |& O a
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
, K& L3 e4 u" g" X+ w* Sto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) m6 F& H! L( c' b
medical schools.
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& C# ?; W1 N9 VEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
& M% u7 ^5 A& c& z3 P) Pgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! q; V! X& A4 I- t
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; Z( Q; X+ D( L! Vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
* b T' n* C2 q7 C0 s! ~) uis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to2 X; n \$ g" m; V* M4 c! d- t. s1 f
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ |) p- D* p1 k" L. J
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 Z7 P4 M( _6 _# Z! z: K0 j1 J$ {
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- C( I P5 N! }/ [) R
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some, w* ?) n2 F: e" R& E
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 i; h' @9 E, Z/ X& x
- h% _% L/ z* ?: x- cThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
# A5 o- T" O, }& aprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and1 Q$ ]& o5 O( X7 R2 W
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' o. Q ^6 I6 D: O0 d+ a W! ?
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
; G$ b5 L; |; E8 `5 M+ i8 ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 ?0 U0 H5 J1 \
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
1 j4 R) c, V) {divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
. X: E% g3 o% m! q+ U' Z' KDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When. b4 f5 p6 B# Q$ \
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 n/ F% P/ a1 w9 lcharge the fee defined by the state.
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. ~& T2 J& t4 i. c) vThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get ^" W6 W" N( W( S. Z
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
7 \0 {# ^ v' rof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ E$ U/ k& @$ V0 d5 C/ M1 }* otruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
* v% ^8 x0 f, n$ Y/ }( Useems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* D E* y# ]- d! R7 n- H
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
* k2 }0 @$ d2 i5 @schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ o. N0 y, [% Y$ ~4 i' j
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* Y& X" n2 g, L. F! Rtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch: Z' |4 h) I3 E5 Y# h
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 j+ q1 C4 t$ }5 n. T v% P& d
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 e0 j7 S7 n6 V( X N& N0 eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 _% w1 F P# X" z' t$ v7 Z3 m
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
% C6 }7 ~9 f7 h5 j, E! yare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ l3 I% y: J$ J0 f1 G1 C* |to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they$ k' L: p3 d' g
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- v0 j" Z- G2 t5 O3 P% I: n40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different: T4 n! `/ ?6 v2 o6 `0 O/ A& {0 _
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the8 E9 W$ a$ q I) L( W
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 ^. T5 v7 C( Z* b* U8 U% Rnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 x0 R6 n* z: Z, j4 ^( [: ^car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ P6 V% f7 d( Q, `
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ j9 K) y) d2 p' l3 ^7 X
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
