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& R( y: f; G* k# N/ N6 Q: d
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went9 n5 v% v5 g( i% E" a( S
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
, y, Y% e$ J( ~0 b"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! e. J J( P7 q( e
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* ^7 E, Z. _6 E& m$ j
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. V$ F* h+ E2 i! e1 w
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
0 C% W3 @% T( b d7 H8 r3 }; |: xfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
% F! J3 F1 d& d$ B3 ^# Ito get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ n3 e: {$ G9 M fmedical schools.7 `, h2 T( B' G& Z% j
/ e, ~. k! l k/ `Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
- t1 h. N# y" T% v9 Mgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- T, g* [' L& r0 P2 U8 ] ^
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
% h/ B% r4 m: H+ [assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 p& Z/ e" l0 r2 Q# j+ U# b
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; J+ N1 _, K$ i7 V8 }, \ g0 [
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There) @4 ~! X& p l6 V% k
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
, \$ W2 T2 |# C. vmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
9 U6 v3 ]: G! e; N% m* Ishortage which the government is addressing by converting some
5 U% N" u, @+ Tsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* h5 O6 R) I: d t3 B: p
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no; h4 N: ~/ N+ Y' E
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* `# I% o) w& F- f5 v+ W i( D
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
6 Q, s/ T" C1 M- i2 g0 Lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) r) x3 w$ J2 H
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: x* J* ] E* a; L4 [( t" A; d
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
* v7 f% e: k; V/ m1 y' F( Ndivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years./ D, @, L" Z3 D# i& c+ S, w% P: r+ Z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 g+ J( K, u. U$ [8 L$ Ja lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only/ Z6 u2 P5 d! J l
charge the fee defined by the state.6 o# [4 I9 x' V5 K) O% ^
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get- A$ g" ^. o7 m' f5 ]
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! s& W9 l4 }9 z, E
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big0 n! E9 {: d2 G# T9 q: t6 i1 o
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel& q+ G' J. o2 r7 k
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; K5 |8 E8 N; U5 Q b2 ^+ K, O
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
( V" m' b. ~. z' w h+ hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if0 p8 Z8 i' u( \. n. C! J
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
6 Q+ z' S' U# r) Wtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, s" J6 X7 l0 T2 z9 @- o5 K$ S
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# A& I3 A( x% _! d7 F
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( I2 m% N- c( w. d8 d, i) mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
0 c7 K {1 z5 c- jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
' n- @& @( k; _- i8 ]- Z# Dare spaces.
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s1 s% T9 S+ ~ Q# k" A% oThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" i. s( q3 F9 U! v! v' e4 k
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) v3 D1 K! Y9 B# O! N# K- g# L/ Z
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the3 ] C4 E2 h8 I0 T" \4 S$ L
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
1 B4 Q+ M- S- \* bparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 n7 f; M5 X9 n% K: c! w5 O# K
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 b1 x' W+ A5 Z t0 _nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
+ W$ H1 P9 T- f- _, |6 w) I% Acar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
( M: ]# C) C# t$ q! H" G! pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& q* g5 c3 Q& L# u( o6 }3 e! k9 s
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
