我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living
, u4 z% N# d0 C( f3 z; C1 @standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
" m* U6 Y& c) ]/ Aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
. Q# @3 r3 ~0 e( y"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
v* n' |! l" [* T8 l" v: ]6 zanswers to our pointed questions.0 G4 t2 j) R- d" k- a. Y
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( T4 G3 Z3 e @7 l* A" w" g, D! v
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) b( \7 a+ n6 J" l7 H; dout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is( p! l7 e9 p: x, J* e6 W
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
$ u; @6 ~3 o+ y3 q3 u+ pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ p h. i6 P0 \" c% c
medical schools.- i0 Q$ |' c2 C, s* U# ^) {2 i
3 w, g. N, A# h8 `4 HEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the. H5 ?4 d3 ~( ?+ \9 }$ y. n
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
9 U$ `/ B( W* L8 @to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 `, X3 `% c* |0 B, t
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba5 ?0 V6 E* {- {* g6 f
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# p1 [8 X2 U4 e8 Y9 F
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There2 J: s* E/ C" o% P9 f) J
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
& q& Y$ t2 _( W! e U) |mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
/ g' w- g3 ~* B% Ashortage which the government is addressing by converting some
. i- t7 _5 `' l) p- B! f; G, w* {) [sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.$ {4 C6 J# O$ C
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no8 t ]: `3 Q% w! M O1 D: O
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* Q$ C, v5 V8 y* N5 M8 @4 ?
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people3 ~' z% u5 G0 Z7 q0 \; {
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- T1 y. T8 @4 X- X# B" S1 `" M
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
1 |" H; J0 o+ j/ C3 V$ P8 `. T$ u6 qsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high8 b% D/ ~* j( M' D
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.+ w7 I* S O( T8 E2 F- E
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 x( l& S1 g) Z- t0 E# ua lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
# g7 g) W* C' _ N# i, zcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
+ x2 S/ @& L& }. V( q7 pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
. l9 n" E0 J. K: \: u) ^of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big% p% Z& U9 g! b
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel& ?7 G x0 }7 k
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
6 q U) A! D# p( n/ Xworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
9 u/ ?, _7 Q& Q) J3 tschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if* y- i0 f/ w6 G) \ {7 h
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
! I, k& w% M+ S2 Y+ dtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
$ I) D5 E4 k- [0 ^$ U! [hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
1 l. K6 m0 I' z# ]3 Xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want, W# }5 @- Y/ L; g7 h: p6 |
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 q, Q5 z) x1 ^5 G4 D! a
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
# f3 X: F9 }6 U6 z2 Y: Q! @. yare spaces.
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1 q' o6 c) J! t; x7 i# s8 F# U% lThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi h6 b3 ~ _' Q
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& b9 j$ a, f& O" Z
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 k- ]4 r- [, x+ n& y! {1 u
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different. O. u0 T' K! q! ^; B
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the }0 L* H$ o; E1 a: E
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few1 M) i$ c1 b7 O- u3 ~( ?) Z
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
. `# t& E' e! m' Gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
4 L) C W4 i3 H) h3 [9 mis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ b1 \6 [& v% u' s We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
