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 Q/ p0 s# d2 _" l' t
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% u4 _9 v! @- {" k3 f3 a, ^
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,2 G. }3 ^! r" ]( X/ q
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give$ z, S7 z0 x- \" `0 j5 w
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
" o" z- |; L C2 a( t45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand1 V, i: c0 b; c6 L- |5 \/ w
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ m$ X I5 X J- t: N0 xfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
, m8 S+ E9 ]' j3 B8 W! Gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! z8 ]5 R/ E' }! q' f* |. y* E
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the0 Z2 _6 T8 n& T& K1 t
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants% @2 w7 E8 k5 K2 N2 v5 \. ^! l
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
9 M( O, G* I" o+ ] T8 yassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba0 |3 R# @; [7 C! a. N, B% b% p
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- T7 _+ _# G& R1 a* \7 @; `4 c
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! J& \$ s6 g( t" Y7 i2 M
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and" f* W# x& y( [5 u' a" S
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
. t4 s+ b4 J+ T, W6 Mshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
4 @! H5 g8 i) T/ U. esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.: ^7 Q5 |7 h r( O$ H
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no3 S7 G* d% d5 h- [
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* w, w! n3 R5 E7 X) @$ w+ E
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 `. p8 O/ E9 z; x: \6 s& Y
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good+ g3 y( F8 k7 J2 i9 { g
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
, O/ s3 q0 E' Z. ysitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high! m* }. {3 O5 |: Q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.. }6 ^1 _4 ]! X/ I
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 _) C. i3 B; K) W: W0 h
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
8 A+ @- v7 [) r9 \& `charge the fee defined by the state." L: ~' k5 ?" v# q
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
$ W# h! h% e! H" Z& k9 Xon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
# w9 {! e1 [, T9 lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; f7 s9 v r$ B. ` q+ L
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ E2 w& k) Q/ T$ h% I# I4 \0 H
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
/ I) q" q1 u% M6 o" E7 rworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
( G/ R0 Z! a& E! U0 J6 ?schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 P S3 t+ p* A
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
8 [+ s+ u* C: [trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# O( ^+ J4 X1 H, D* Y4 e0 T- H2 _hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
: z& C- G: A9 Apeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want \4 X2 L: b2 L5 i
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or( q! Z) W, Y8 P- u) |6 \
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there9 b5 n* A) f9 ]* y) H
are spaces.
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1 P3 y5 [+ \' s) sThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi8 q+ a6 G/ N9 ]- h# \: `3 K
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' N9 I, f! d4 I+ U1 U3 T6 Eown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the( O8 K/ I0 Y w
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ B, H1 @" ~9 |/ v
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
. [. R0 n$ A* B) tbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
5 q* L- M5 k6 w* @! h _) P8 g: wnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 ^( ?* T% `/ x" c
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; S( Z6 _% W: C& Z7 G$ bis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
# _( I. I% e2 I( ~3 Z4 }# c: ]" x8 s We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
