我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living5 Y: @/ }4 w2 t/ w1 f
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
% [: \; h9 j! r8 U8 D. j( `4 F8 won a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,. ^2 I4 n5 o, `! I
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! Q, C$ b0 z6 X- U6 oanswers to our pointed questions.- ]$ P6 ?8 |# F" J
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
- h9 b: @: b* V* s+ T+ z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
$ `, m2 S2 c8 B: Gout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
$ N# F. a* x' v( vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
0 Q' r0 C$ r% D7 U. ?to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! w" [' S0 l& o( l0 Q: M
medical schools.4 I+ R7 h" e, l$ Q
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 d4 k6 Z/ ^# ~( [' c' L" a
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ F4 }) [( B/ Y5 G3 v! }to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years5 \" `8 l% k8 W& R8 U
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
3 E- a" X; C8 u+ F+ |9 T7 Ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
, y/ n1 A, S/ }4 i. Nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* W5 z9 S# ~+ d- p: Useems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and3 H) ~+ n. Z% h( F
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk1 S1 D* O3 K( {7 W+ }# X5 k
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some/ O) k. {! B% B7 f5 H# b
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 ^/ s/ P! x1 M/ O' v% }
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
& R0 e' L8 I3 _. ?& v2 Z( Nprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- x+ A- H: M' H2 t) A* `
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! M! c/ |9 X2 H! D$ R2 u: Chave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" l7 C, I! A" t5 s2 X2 |# T
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
$ H- ` C* i0 xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high* t$ i! i9 v" U! g
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 n" j g8 C* C7 \' ^/ `Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
0 {5 {7 R! o7 \0 ]a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& g( J# x( M2 N I, Scharge the fee defined by the state.7 w7 L3 T3 s+ n: l Y" N( B8 O3 W
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ D+ q$ g, E0 ]& {( Q, s
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
& v% q) j7 o; Z1 {of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
( M3 F: j$ z2 j& R- N3 V; y& W9 Jtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
9 _5 B, I6 @, [6 U) `& gseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* D" \" ^# W; G. O0 ~1 J3 vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
9 L u. H( N. @$ u: z7 L8 Jschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if2 h/ n2 W# d. V
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
L- J6 e, n' E# m! j9 S: otrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 T3 g; x5 V. H, h1 s
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that" ]2 r/ f7 J% H+ k3 s
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% b2 L+ C: q" ~1 Tto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
3 t! O# Q* O( y+ a2 P) A& Hbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
, C5 O/ q0 F0 O% C5 p3 G6 I/ vare spaces.
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0 G# r/ {0 L; D, G& A2 eThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
4 c: W9 {3 p4 Ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
2 g% B D, k$ F& y% V. C1 j- E5 k6 Jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
2 G) k" s$ i& S7 _7 U40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; g. v8 S. A: X; J" T
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the& \/ H! S! E y# x' ~8 W6 G
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few0 S0 o7 c ]. |2 A* U7 {
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
% g9 H: I% c. m+ |% rcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it$ L. w1 \& `- H+ |- e H/ _
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& B" J# A2 d3 k' j0 ? {
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
