我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living2 m n1 S/ S; c% U, }
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went5 U) g* y" J% O( `
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
5 i& N) e5 |3 O5 T% }"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 z9 `. W# D; f5 O/ _$ a) Z4 R
answers to our pointed questions.. w6 d3 _, _0 E- x
) M0 U# H0 R( }0 ]! Y; K8 d @The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
/ @% y& k9 [' y A7 K45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand0 d3 W3 U: r# F% e- Z) g
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
6 W' x" v$ y9 ^7 N& |free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
0 K5 _7 [! s; D& G3 K1 oto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are, t, q. A2 F6 Q! A7 I8 Y
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 R. S+ z5 A8 Z1 T( u2 P
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants" b; @' K. t; ~" L
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
6 m- F8 r( N3 }; d% v* I3 @2 X! Bassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba4 J- e4 z% Q5 R* c2 [$ U
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
- f5 Z C9 A! }+ L7 x5 }5 D) tover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% B4 q! x, t3 J5 O
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and% H) Q6 Y; c/ d$ R
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 g7 W0 S+ J' e+ E6 A/ L) }5 f9 @( [, R
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some& i. _' ^% b4 F+ o& i" X
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.9 e5 ?6 t( u( @& |/ O1 t K
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no8 v G1 g( x+ V% Y' J
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
7 D" l* T* e& x/ k$ z ^. gsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
* X) M2 ]# c: j$ B. }8 H, jhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ Z7 P1 F! h) Y# Cthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
2 c* S0 F/ @/ X0 a2 Isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
9 q1 y) k4 X. {: c$ rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.5 ? j8 ?1 N! ?" ]1 h3 A1 P& c
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
- Z/ E8 M( N0 [7 fa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
+ u- q1 e2 X7 Pcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
# d* F" s* u7 n0 k4 I# lon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" j; K, z- t; _' J/ l5 Q+ h1 a
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big2 B0 h R& V% [) O4 ], k6 a
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel2 m* \, D3 S! y& t" G! K* I0 l7 w7 p
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the A* |7 U5 S1 C. b+ O( W
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, m; I) z+ @6 ?4 bschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if2 g6 @ W- y: y, B
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people4 T d" E1 g4 D1 z: x n/ M% G$ W5 y3 B
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# ?8 Z( M! j, K; u( |hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that0 S; w! z% t* i. _2 ` I
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
H0 n2 \- J6 Vto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
4 I% U$ @+ {; k6 a" Q, T$ [buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! ]( z" H; z( }0 p4 y/ m! N* U
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ x. L* p4 h" R9 ?7 n
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- f" Q# g0 D7 R5 A# @. v9 N2 m
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the; m+ C, f: u: j; G9 j
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
6 M5 {8 E. f/ ^/ T: P5 wparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 ]3 M3 s" i, o7 n# Gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
8 B. a4 h2 \5 Z8 a1 }nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ T! x+ d4 e1 x
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it2 @8 \: V8 w9 h7 Z2 _5 F, P6 F
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
6 }# w8 U5 {( g0 D b We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
