我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living0 A' ]9 O7 K9 c; k9 Z, \) f
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went3 [% O2 _; @) p. w$ x$ v4 Z- w- p
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
4 Z2 R8 K7 U% Q' ^6 P7 {"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" Q$ e& T- M3 C2 B9 U ?/ H- X$ N) l
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
! b: y4 W" Y+ F8 Y45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
6 _1 o! L8 e$ L. i: qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
1 m4 V) J$ k' wfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; ]3 Q7 H! p; Z4 b8 wto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ Y3 w( N+ h, C& @/ E. ymedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: X& u6 t, S5 ]* w/ t" O6 Z1 hgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
! B7 X2 B, f6 ^to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 N5 D$ `( }, ?0 G# d9 Z, ^4 P, H
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba4 n; w7 q1 m% ]1 P+ s
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to& b/ |8 a: @7 i# D( b- H
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
. w; t) d1 k8 oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
7 j9 p1 b4 ]) Z( Mmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
" m) N& c9 T4 g8 T3 tshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
9 Z5 j3 F q- fsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# @$ o, Y; T' ?9 A0 w' j
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no2 w: O9 A* k' e' [! A
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
% ]3 u( ]. V1 ^5 g( I7 Ssupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
; O( ]0 ?& _# u; _& h5 {have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ V- U6 P0 ^" R" `1 P; K7 cthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
- d, \% [2 ~) m, s# x3 Xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, l) u3 }( X, c: K5 Q1 l: |; Pdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; M0 x2 m8 z0 H9 CDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
' ^# l: t5 K, j. k& F4 [& ~a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only, x) W4 ?- X2 D& E! ]+ ~6 t6 Y
charge the fee defined by the state.
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/ V5 A( h5 K, R! x vThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
9 d6 ]: I% S" ~/ E t9 Z/ Eon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ h" G7 N- S7 m: t2 v' Zof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ \1 W6 K8 \ s0 R, y* f+ D% g3 x
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# N" {2 l% |4 d8 X* ?" t
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
$ A5 n. d* r+ j/ I4 Oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
' u: C2 M1 c6 ~. V' M: T' ischedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
8 \3 o- n, Z% C1 Tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
$ v. t [* f2 Q( N( x0 ?/ Ttrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
5 T( b! C2 S1 q) U9 w h3 c3 n, ihiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
. k' H% W A- a. I1 f! E! |people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
& \! [% E8 A; Fto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
3 c7 u& e, z2 y8 xbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there9 E& T0 d' G3 J! E
are spaces.
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( K% W" W/ a+ ?2 |4 t$ DThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
u, k1 G" R0 G. x; G# ?, f+ H5 s: @to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# G& S* u& h8 I d7 Sown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
/ [/ _6 F8 g5 [. y40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
0 ?7 d$ e, r4 w& O& r5 t |parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 R$ l6 U+ g' |best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
7 `* |; X& f# W" S9 s+ K; Bnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
U( \9 \- Q/ m9 }0 Fcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
, U. l' S" s) {" `2 k- R) uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
- b$ h* r, o- ?% r# M( A We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
