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
8 D( a2 S9 Z2 q( S, ystandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
5 T4 I( b/ n9 ~: E4 l. g; ^on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,8 a x; P. @' A( m u- |8 W
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: z3 p5 L+ k4 _9 O
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,- U6 ]6 f8 [: E+ {5 T
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand- }! S5 _0 c! m* j8 k
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
+ o% W$ u" E3 e7 rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 {0 H1 Y9 N% n% f9 Cto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: s7 J1 g f! a% Fmedical schools.
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/ B y% L, v$ O9 W7 Q$ yEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
% ?' a& e- Q; r9 U7 R; {/ [3 Vgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ R2 Q7 @+ ?. X, S D) P1 Fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
. H" J5 E) d0 x% k+ Jassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba1 u5 C, @( f9 {3 Z z
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- o8 g7 O( v6 I" k2 Z& ]
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
" x7 F7 Y; ~" g% t+ Rseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
# R% E3 @& W* y r" ?) Q6 d% [mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk& t. p6 q6 ]2 C
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
4 [# s4 i+ a' { Dsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 T& @6 z# v, g4 r% |4 C) [, m+ n
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
- ]5 F9 Y- j N, g' _3 ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
" O! ^7 e7 [0 O- j' ehave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good: k9 n% n* u' e& @2 k+ Z U- F
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby4 H5 w9 S7 `6 e8 U: h
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high1 C' F! G, I, W, W
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.2 V2 e( N! k+ @' n5 Y
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When z5 G5 O. [" C" t* S
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 l' H+ a3 @" N) u8 E; }
charge the fee defined by the state.
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" ]3 G) p/ |8 w# W4 {* ?& `There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get3 ^! J, j$ }3 m1 h; r0 v% k; l9 x
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! C( v' v1 m. D5 r \of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- W# n( B4 Q" W& v- A
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel4 w4 ^$ A5 g7 U6 J/ R$ T' u' A
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the5 {7 Q$ y- K% o( j8 h7 N
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
9 k' w% H2 T% j2 n+ T6 r0 zschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
" I. `' o$ F Q: E8 W7 ~$ ryou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. Z( N4 z3 |' J ]1 D; Z8 Gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
. o2 H; D9 K8 Y: Bhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that" [7 U+ Y7 A) q' v) l- R: P, g; x
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 z: J. l7 X/ I, |& \
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 w' B$ i, o" E+ B4 d2 b3 u
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
& c2 v$ {0 v/ \are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
, O) {# _: ^# ~% g7 vto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- v, M8 v' `7 E; i/ M3 i) i/ v
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
" t+ l, P* |3 I- [40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 V3 J( \( C5 Z+ u1 q5 y2 v
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
2 F+ ?6 ~6 V3 R3 f# l7 gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few9 q- L* L4 ]5 B- ^
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 r( }) u& u6 ^7 @8 o) H, K
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 ]/ k% ^; g" m* R7 h" n/ W6 Ais a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
5 G; _5 X+ G. z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
