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 Z" V& x, Y' b; T, K9 l
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went" }# b# e" g# @! o; m6 J7 [( b
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 d3 j5 L% j1 T9 W8 w* E6 C! v6 |+ m"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( G+ I) y8 c' J Fanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; S c1 S( `% l! J2 ]
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
5 H# Q$ u! c2 r' Bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is5 x8 R0 s$ R, z3 o( j
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams0 c4 {1 w1 A5 |6 J6 e0 S# U* N
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( N2 a |; i t1 @$ p
medical schools.
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/ L& p5 w" J, Q) o2 F0 K2 ^ mEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' r! J( X/ a# P
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants7 Z d/ U, P C9 M7 h7 w& S
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
. f( r" {2 ?+ uassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
" C; w: L F" @9 C7 Mis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
# r' U4 P+ E) ^2 C5 H1 A; w$ X$ nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
- U" ]! b% B+ R( eseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and* }: k3 r! ^3 W; o0 y
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk0 \2 z) ^* R |1 t& v- f
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
; s# F- k! A/ i- Usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 R* A+ u1 j4 `1 h* |; M! J/ b
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" l% T7 H. q' o/ Q. v9 f
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
+ T7 j3 ], v) N6 E( [" Dsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
: w" T/ D& Q2 W6 i# lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
# Y5 I0 V! h Q; F' s9 fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
8 M/ a- P1 O m/ r! c1 ositting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high* a. }3 I% |: j. Y$ S
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years./ k' {3 L9 I7 `
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
E0 q9 \, i7 e; w4 d4 Ta lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: ]; `0 I7 u( a& L W! f6 E
charge the fee defined by the state. G) d+ P3 }6 t( f# v
8 e+ d+ k s! }There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
) o7 ], ?4 Q& u5 Kon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 j- k M' _$ j9 G, Eof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big( Y7 {: C% O! ~
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
9 y) ^6 g% Z1 nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the n! h6 c* T+ X, |2 O% D
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on) q3 k8 E }( r% U
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: D% F1 C) a- l: A: i: F7 S
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) R, o6 o9 n& ~6 {, B
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch4 G. R5 |9 f* W2 y" k1 D3 @
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
) G: E% f Z4 ?8 z9 w) _. Mpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 ?8 w2 |/ A# z. L! Y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 v0 g) F4 ?4 B& a9 D1 W
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there) D3 w! r7 G* C
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 F1 ~2 \" Y; M0 q* a
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
* y9 V) K4 h7 \: B+ f; Iown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
* K, x O( l$ v1 i40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& P9 b& G2 C& P! M' A
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the- P, C ^6 X+ T D. ?
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
- u( d' ?& T4 E3 }nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of8 K) x( @, b% Z0 }4 o# x) q3 z
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" T* O4 y$ L* qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.) V- @$ Q( B" S$ V" t) ^# h
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
