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# i x; o" k. T3 K5 z/ A( k
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went& S- T. U0 P; S" n4 y' ?
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," ]. s. F0 _- E5 `8 ^- t$ j
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
4 [8 M% g' w* ^1 zanswers to our pointed questions.
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$ F/ W: Q) b1 f: c- h9 c1 vThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
+ d. i& J' q& h$ s$ `. ^6 D$ |0 K45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand W, @9 ^, K% I; q) {! M$ p
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: F2 i! q7 z+ }' _+ y# f4 k0 Yfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ l! v9 f9 A. H2 C1 G) Nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" T* v# R R. h9 V, z: f* O$ K; X& ^medical schools.
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& M3 f8 {& N7 D4 { Z( T* AEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, O) Z+ d4 K' ?government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
# G9 ]& G- n% Nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ O' g8 `# d* E }
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
7 e$ h/ P2 K& s5 f" o; p6 pis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; g1 }& ?9 q0 x$ s4 m/ ^
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There3 U3 _& w; j: z
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and- r8 I( k/ r& R4 ?& x
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
0 h0 Q! L! O* v$ X' Z' z+ ^6 sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
- ?; Q4 N4 B1 N* X6 Wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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/ u! D/ Z" n- [. f s8 QThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no' w1 O$ i! r8 l; N
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
a7 [, _% |$ [- L. Bsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 c4 y5 U9 I* a& f! xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" E# I- f4 g0 o
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
$ r2 t( b, i) K R5 psitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: J- B) H2 k; D4 h9 `; e+ ?
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.$ Y. \3 b, x B) z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
. L8 Q1 L$ v9 `& i" P# G3 Ua lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only4 r$ s2 D" D: h2 P8 y% s: j5 t
charge the fee defined by the state.) f% h5 w% H' c
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
+ `! e' o6 u; hon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type/ Y! h# E2 C$ v1 ]7 `
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
' X5 U) J) C; N; Qtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel' [+ R7 d) |& g, a$ ` E, i
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
) @5 Q* @; D0 O5 uworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
6 I/ d. e. K: i4 W. a+ z+ S' Aschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 M9 H6 ^0 g1 D3 n* e. R
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
% O$ q$ Q' B" atrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch) E. w2 O0 I2 M# C% ]
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' o; w% U4 d, W. u& C& ?! M
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 B9 z3 e' }. X! ^
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or+ d* u+ N/ p% \! q3 y3 f8 u
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
, J1 p' _5 Q2 A2 \are spaces.: j3 }+ g( @! D4 P$ J/ S
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 V4 j4 i; J7 `+ g0 p% ]
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they' n. M( L$ A7 C! _6 k
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' T* P5 u, I$ C9 _3 K' a7 Y4 I
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different8 o$ D0 j1 K3 |, R* s) m1 ?
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the( Y- J1 s9 t: _% P0 S7 ^
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' M8 ~4 Y9 ^ ?9 j
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 W6 {1 i+ Q9 F
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it1 e/ ]/ d* s+ @5 O
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
2 x; j4 k- Q% L! s8 n: n- Y We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
