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( Y1 ?5 o3 ~4 ]9 w4 ]
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 v* O3 T5 d5 ?0 e) _2 @+ k
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,9 `; r& l" p$ W( j P6 i7 M
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 ]4 y, B7 a! }% L
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ r& X! Z! A9 z$ N; g+ P( [45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 T! U- J: [* y s/ c" g! q9 L1 [8 }
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is0 m3 C9 L2 Q0 g
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 L( h' i- u$ l/ Q9 @& A3 Jto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are, y5 R5 {# K! a i
medical schools.% G( B& ]( M% F2 q& ^, P" c
) ^0 d* L k& ZEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the) U) Y; J$ n- E K# N: U, a, b
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* J$ s0 u3 q m6 |0 V; J
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 g5 }3 n$ V+ c S) L- D2 Y) \
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
2 U; h* H7 W5 c) P- iis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
5 c- O0 v/ `3 t" iover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There& j9 w! X- }$ S, `. V$ a- i- Q5 g
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
. [8 u1 V" ^4 p/ S+ y7 r* M4 ^mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
; L o* m5 r1 u/ t0 z2 Q. o4 ^- Wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
1 A% C* d6 X5 U0 W8 e* psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 c% V% F* p" Q9 a& B/ F
0 R! a% K1 O7 C! |- t. q5 TThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no8 r; v. @* f( L/ V" ?3 l; E. J' Q
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
+ M, L$ y4 V5 P' S \4 t) _supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
9 U+ R0 G$ w& khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
3 e6 n q% q1 y$ v1 L6 e7 Uthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby n) f2 @- F0 T0 _6 V9 F
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high# A( ]! I, G7 [0 w& H9 n4 M" A
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 p! e+ R4 Z, D8 I$ u" ZDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 r- H/ }8 M2 ?. `0 t( E' l d
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only, d8 Q3 S: X2 W: q
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
4 o s8 x/ y( I: Don), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: q/ Z# c9 E- m! F
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big( ]" B y7 f- \8 L
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ a' k7 d! R: p+ y/ g8 a7 l R
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" z! W0 y% s7 q( c
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 W: G7 R0 V6 D" C& W' X9 j
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* t7 L4 j& S7 v* w% Oyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" u' m5 U. U- J# _
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' D* H0 ?% ]# B. O4 M9 b
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
: o6 a3 S/ i/ W" R4 Xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" F, `; V6 Q+ H9 Vto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
: A" e- J, C: D& x: Pbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there: I, E+ j* d/ |3 p
are spaces., H% ?' i% ?0 ^. n1 ^, L4 E
4 V+ J$ v( c# m% v1 J/ g; ]! U( d& ~There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
- j2 \. T* n' u! Y' N( e: Y5 G. j3 D' E+ Oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( P" h: c7 D, b4 h! Iown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the( {: b! R, ^ e
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% J) L7 i. p4 f; \1 v9 ]7 f. R
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
$ i2 ^7 h: p: Z/ m* Y9 \2 P" Rbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
1 b* L" `6 J2 Cnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of l+ ]3 b/ W7 e4 V4 U1 M
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( o P) ?: {8 [
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ n+ ~( Y0 P8 Q$ R3 H9 h3 Q We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
