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) l# l, R( s/ ^! N$ ]: e+ Z
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
$ o* }8 F6 L, `; g3 \4 g F2 ~( won a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,0 g* ~( K. h( Y
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
+ c2 d1 U% g. A) g+ W; @answers to our pointed questions.- m7 u8 K% E8 h5 i0 ~- d$ l9 L
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: c2 W6 P7 u D( h' }
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 h; Y( V" T* U
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is2 S- H2 K$ H& N0 @
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 w& S( N5 W* q0 {- d: ~to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 v9 B" {2 f& H0 u
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% @; h, v) E' I! U% T2 t- k! g
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 p+ B0 B4 D' V, I5 D3 Q
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
: a4 R! j: `& w# Vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
8 n' {& n- X! M, i9 u) ?/ Bis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
; ?1 D/ [* ?8 b- c7 Kover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
" R% u6 `! Q# }seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# F* v/ j* F: H' `" H- |
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 K& b% W$ v) b( l( J1 b& X
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
! y" \. h. h/ S9 D7 usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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8 z/ n: q' l4 l6 rThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
, P7 y8 ?! v+ R, e+ i$ Qprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- t. h4 H9 Q2 M! g6 Z+ f, J& f
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people3 F. g' M1 W/ H
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good5 k& R8 D r* C( k" R. j/ Y
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 t3 c m& _$ z: N3 q6 lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 f' M! x5 l: g
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
- `/ C0 C: X. P. i1 i! B5 B5 _$ xDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When% @: e9 l1 S9 g$ U0 K4 v
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 G7 [6 P4 z' M' j. ] f8 w
charge the fee defined by the state.- t* w+ v5 O, r! p9 r9 k
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% W1 Y/ d0 i, O' a# non), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type$ Y& l. C \' s3 ?5 ~: g
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. g. ~" ]3 F8 T8 x% r8 x$ etruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 e) F3 l. E1 m: u( o8 D
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: s% c4 g4 H* C; P
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on9 F* D/ X5 p9 T. w7 D! L1 M
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% d( f1 c; b9 ^5 e& a" g! {+ X( Tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people1 [7 F _; }4 N6 U) A
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# {8 \2 X m$ h
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that: G1 @1 F8 E$ H, J( v o
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want% T3 Q$ U0 H7 M
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' q- V, u& X) ^. v( i# W
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
9 t, U& c# |1 V% B$ care spaces.
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3 H/ c# g% W7 O8 A7 vThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
% f1 }+ L6 ]3 ]( v% m! pto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 S- \/ D6 E* x5 O* u3 nown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the- d0 m1 L! t- d' _8 F! {8 a# k
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' C3 Y7 f# Z" T5 {
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
% h: q0 s! c1 @4 r6 Ubest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
) U/ C/ D& }" J% B2 @0 ?3 jnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of& u5 ^; b6 L$ k2 m; J y/ o( H' d
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it1 L# D+ p, y- }1 |
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.% y W3 |1 v3 H* E1 M
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
