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 [# b% x# a) E: h7 j& M& L
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went$ U$ t* a W' J! ^5 ~# ?
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
: J ~/ Q( r$ Q* Y5 ^"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 \+ [: ]& T. l+ J4 @1 _
answers to our pointed questions.
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: Z+ c3 b$ v2 X4 EThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,4 x o- @3 p9 a' F
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
1 }) D( F0 ?) S! H/ F+ o6 ^3 Sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: r1 j; s3 T* |* ufree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
$ v U5 k' a- @+ wto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) l& ]) G. H$ ]
medical schools.8 f/ \2 L% A7 S7 h$ W2 I# O
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% B( `7 B& {' N
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
6 G; ^& q7 k! ]% ^+ Kto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. q. q' F( j: [
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
( m1 x1 Z$ m2 ]6 S1 T& Mis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) V* w/ Y. E8 _, N
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There4 k) A r) D" Y7 X0 w( m
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and. i) x" ^5 Y+ l, u% X" `# [ B
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk2 ]4 m0 c8 }% o8 N
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
( q, W0 ^0 w) |sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands./ J, W- [ [; r( h" O X1 B/ A
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 J4 K2 e; ?$ E, O% W3 Q: c
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 _4 I8 s* c( q- `
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people( r# C7 a0 d- a* V
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
; C1 x3 M, e* U2 Z$ {& ything about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby/ {( T2 l0 W# s
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 D u/ @0 e5 Q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
& v. I* x2 t3 R/ V7 s+ H" x) Y! t; @Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When- h+ k* l/ [; C/ c! @- Z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
3 n& x$ T3 ^8 Xcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
8 ~+ Q* Y# }3 g% aon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ n2 W7 [# h* y g1 ?: ^0 Tof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# X1 Z4 g) j2 v* q, V; Y1 @
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
7 ^ j& @; O4 L' y8 X/ j* L7 F. N6 ?seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' u: h6 i6 s( y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
( D6 K& ~! k! S, Z7 tschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- R' j* W; c, k
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 e7 J. Q9 n7 c) u! M
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch: y: `9 ~: A$ g8 l: c
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ Z& V/ T5 E; J
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
9 _3 Q. @+ V. R' ~0 M3 Tto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% r4 n( U& K) B
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 r2 G% P' X3 I/ j+ F) _' F) l
are spaces.8 e4 B7 v, u. j4 b+ j9 ^$ j) C. ^
# \! t* I3 y' h, y N* U; D2 n" r# x( T& AThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ |2 I! J6 H6 _2 [1 qto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
: f7 G, V4 R. [. R' P; G1 gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
2 x& s) F; c7 H f# H2 Q7 V% S% I, @- \40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different7 h: y L7 n* D1 A+ z
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 F* y. A- k c# c# {% m: ]( V" U6 e
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few/ ?0 N" D$ f U1 t6 S ~# }
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
# F$ H( d: t* ecar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
. c# y6 G+ D: b* k5 R9 x+ ?is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.6 \8 _! i4 N0 r0 Q/ V
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
