我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living4 k* ~# ]" J2 J- d# g. z) B) o4 U9 f* v
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
+ R& ^2 n- Q$ A, L0 Hon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,& h/ N# Q/ Z- [
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
4 w/ w8 N" K3 l8 b; H! }8 Z9 ianswers to our pointed questions.3 w, Z! R0 K4 k" u O3 ` Y
y0 K( f2 E/ c+ F; cThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
+ y2 G4 i4 S. f: D4 ]7 y8 ^# V45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
! U4 r1 ?+ m) wout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
1 e, y4 `- i( p9 N3 D3 F. efree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams4 b$ A# i9 K2 f- n
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& S: y+ @& H8 {5 X7 d" k" Fmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 ~- A- i( i2 b4 k0 f. t
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants L% m; ?% G1 b: f M
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% U, D* \% S, z4 A
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba# p3 W) c$ Q( B. Z4 Q
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# D) e( s% T' J) _3 Q* M6 X. |" e
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
9 U3 C7 e" U. c4 u( k \seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 H; \- w% U% t) ^
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" y$ ?6 U( Z3 K
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
( E5 C* u5 `% z! l0 v/ ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 E0 l& C( E: W" B+ u- _6 A
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% @$ P- u! }' x5 ~6 U
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 V$ j9 y! ^1 t5 C9 r3 e
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ U3 I: ~. o9 D) g4 D
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
( @4 _4 ? v8 Y2 Tthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 I8 E- a) V6 A5 J$ x% ^3 r
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; d5 b. k) {. f+ r: ]divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.* [: s5 C4 c/ s# B" E6 C. {
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When5 R% t, A. {& z5 y0 _# Q9 R
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only2 s" {% P/ C( ]# b# {! T8 j" N, E
charge the fee defined by the state.9 G' _, @2 M2 X. M7 S. j; a* n4 s
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 b" D ^( a/ }% q" I! non), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type) r1 n `3 p0 Z/ o3 U1 J* g
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
( n- y" P4 S5 ?" g, ttruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel9 @% u0 i. s% B |: b* I3 j
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the& v* f0 T) W$ R8 x+ P. I
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on/ T; y, \+ u- \/ f! _3 x
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: k9 C4 ~4 k% C" W0 W4 I' o zyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
M, j" p' J/ ^) @# F3 B* C0 P7 gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. {8 m' o& G+ X6 Z6 ]4 l5 @
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
( T0 b4 R+ T) b4 d! _9 l0 {people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! K) c6 Z9 V" `& S. f$ u) yto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
2 o* v" v+ i7 B, S. l! I9 nbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
0 }3 A3 L/ ]5 Tare spaces.9 @2 O* R4 M9 w' K0 K# I7 @# z' W M
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ G# i( a. F# p3 o; G. uto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) d5 w( G7 i7 x+ Yown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
V1 e+ O6 ^8 O, {' P40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 A+ e% @9 ?+ K. _5 H
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
2 v1 _- [ b7 S2 X( |- }best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
2 n% V6 b; b6 B3 [5 V w7 Y; X, p: Enice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* D3 _, i# O$ W% A1 j
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" _& N" Q. D8 }$ Fis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
$ p" B5 n/ G- q% C& G5 u& } We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
