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) a: J7 s+ s' M4 ?1 t# b8 L
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
6 R) m# N7 m T, _# M( N2 Ion a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,, ~, Y* W! Q) y: q: ~5 N
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
" } Z7 B. }0 z/ canswers to our pointed questions.% L4 t2 W, Z. [2 z* S4 u
8 c$ W1 m' U8 k) ~" uThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( l! P6 T! i& S6 O& o
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
& W& I1 X0 L4 L: s4 N+ H( G V9 w& yout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is/ ?& J2 S" O: K& ]" S) E$ l- c
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
" h7 ]7 q/ O0 B9 ~6 G- Vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# e2 A2 n! Q& g& B+ |+ \2 G& g2 J1 M
medical schools.) j# \% A' n4 c! e
/ \0 P2 s0 k4 B! K" mEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
5 M/ z. b. ?, G4 X, t ^2 {+ ~- W- s( Ugovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
: J5 X3 ~2 S! m7 Z/ _& Y4 Sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
* l' v* l" _3 @. t) a, kassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba/ {* f8 Q2 J$ S( X+ J- I; [. H
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
, Y7 f, J% M8 H1 l1 A& x$ uover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! I5 |7 ?0 A5 F* d9 s6 D
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and3 Q6 E& C$ r9 W3 X8 r( H
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
. Q9 B" J6 J3 h' y$ e; j9 x3 oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 K* G' l6 r v a# E; J/ L6 tsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& p7 _$ Y' H% J3 P6 M
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
- ]& }& I, A1 E. Tprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 W- A7 ^* [' y9 Y: {1 _
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
/ n& ~* x: F. j6 t) {have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 E& x/ ]% a9 x# @+ p- b- g
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
$ O0 N2 ~5 }* {1 ~+ O: D( y; Ksitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: C0 Y0 G2 ^7 a1 l1 T
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
( R6 V: z; e: Z, A: `Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When% D C0 L4 Z3 B- t- D @
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
- N2 P2 b5 |5 r7 m8 ycharge the fee defined by the state.4 ~: I. |( w# x; N$ T# e) g
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 y. M- B% j% |' z" I2 }
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, \4 Q8 ]. C" B7 D$ }of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
w' p& s6 j4 Dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel% j' }( j- Y/ r* T& R! Y! f; ]. B
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the4 N. u8 o6 B+ D. h; ~. S
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& K" T* g; F1 G2 q& p7 ?
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
" F" g% S/ E( }+ \! ^you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people9 z& j& A6 B) G1 M3 Q* n. q
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch* H9 b; O* k) o" E+ Y
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
& E; Z8 v6 |& i r/ |$ Kpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want L8 h" j- w3 y& P+ W
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
; h9 }: g6 S2 m( ~) y* Y0 Abuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there3 P& ^- N$ i' U+ m; M# O t- a' j3 G W
are spaces., |2 I2 U1 m B! r) z0 ~
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 f |2 s/ C# `* B+ ]% Q+ d$ m
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they8 t. }3 d/ x: W0 z6 U
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
: `5 t- M- ]+ b$ z2 O5 S: O3 {! B5 j40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 C8 N- f% p6 o' [, aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
e5 ~4 T) d3 Z; D% Gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 ~# W+ i' k. R1 r
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
6 R! y4 q4 m) o! J6 z2 bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ F3 ]9 R, G# v( _( j
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned." Q' @+ V7 I! a7 y
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
