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
3 `# ^3 D" v7 f; p* j7 }5 g5 nstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went3 j5 q8 c2 G7 E6 M8 N& s
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
2 I+ [; ~; _1 c" B, L) s5 F* _4 J"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 Z) i: S/ O# d! G$ w
answers to our pointed questions." T& u- A* c0 C/ b0 y6 l& R
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
+ ?2 \7 M+ O! r, H45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
& F! H5 _ W" e, s( Bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
( c- I% V+ X) q! M* y2 D( lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
( [& P1 g! Y& I7 Dto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are4 G4 O; e" t" ]2 y! E q- x& y! s
medical schools.% _7 e+ O/ m" X- v
& d( C6 D1 p T/ \* s1 p$ pEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the- N1 J X# J/ F; d
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants: d1 ]4 y) D. g4 c' t: `
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 v( ~; @9 @ h
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba7 Q5 m: G" V/ s( u0 K
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
$ n9 X, s Q: W3 X, F+ [2 sover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
+ w3 ]; ~( H& J6 r' o, Z; oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and0 Z/ u5 ?2 x9 D _/ |& J5 b3 P
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" s, ~2 P! n2 ` _3 |. m
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
% i& z' p0 K: \' Gsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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. e$ @4 b, V- `0 u# m& F/ NThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no7 u5 G" L- D' a; W ^
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and1 [1 V, T' [9 y1 x: A f
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ K0 D; D3 }' E, I
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
( m$ [" O1 k" g6 fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby3 }4 D W' }! a% |# o) v: [
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high" H9 W0 w/ K% q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
0 Z. V6 i& U9 a' v0 Z: cDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When' p$ R, C2 ?% | ]+ t! o
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% {; `) K4 v9 W. _
charge the fee defined by the state.
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* r3 F! D- _6 l8 zThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get4 }7 u$ a2 z1 W) l1 U. B8 o& F' V
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# B$ c, P" ^# Y; }0 @2 {
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big Y9 k4 t' v& }
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
- P0 D# w. D4 y- [5 V: @1 ]seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
5 _- W* k$ R/ yworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
5 W3 j% T( c% Jschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if+ p2 ~5 M- U" ]7 G1 }9 |2 ]1 a
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 r5 v7 r3 n. \! x6 p* @
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch7 n T X- ]; }# i* Y
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* L! o5 @' O4 U4 Z9 w Qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
- L7 x; a* c4 E+ Tto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% u; a5 y w. w7 I' P% c v( t
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there9 i( u, c+ Z8 {9 @& R
are spaces.; b. k% N3 d: }4 }8 _% O- C5 D
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
7 }* U% Q, \$ ^6 g3 \+ J$ ]to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they; J% I3 l: l0 M
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
% q3 k2 [, a' P+ G40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different" f6 T) H* a7 b0 \ A9 g. W
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 o$ b; G2 n: C. t) _7 W* H
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
- H1 M4 @: D4 K7 \' ?nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of: }) d+ ]/ y r7 s
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 M/ z% B1 _9 R0 K' I2 X) i: s
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.6 o$ t0 \3 q" O. e, x0 Y, G+ [
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
