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& ^. {# a$ e+ U6 Y" ]
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 R+ B' l+ p: z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
' f6 ^1 b' ~; X"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
, ^+ U# u. I1 _: ganswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ _) _, |3 U' n6 A45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
6 U! G: L5 H# X! \: l8 u/ d% d& ^! j& q9 uout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
2 a) G$ @! l6 N {. w- M( y% Bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
/ z/ U7 l5 x p. ~6 rto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
- V9 |& o! K$ y4 v. U' _$ H1 B6 M! Q# imedical schools.7 g" M7 ?& S: N1 ]# _ T
8 m+ |; k$ [9 d" j) \! J! OEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
8 [' a4 l& @* Lgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants, |- u6 p) D! |; `, c: V) r
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
+ I e" V1 y1 g, x$ F( xassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
" [2 ]. S G8 O4 T- ^; s f) C, b5 i( @is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
( L! ?" [+ j% b6 U3 pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
1 l- j" V5 u' {seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
4 _' T3 Z. V" ?/ B7 |4 M smostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( @) N d) q5 x4 y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
* ]! Y2 ?, r. ]2 \sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 A7 `1 v+ i8 u3 i8 [) W9 ]( u
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and$ ]5 B I& L0 O
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people4 C0 {+ x; q; q% ^8 ?. N7 W
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good' k& z* P& O$ A k/ ?
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby. P* z3 X" H$ F$ i; D: E
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
3 r0 H8 N8 ~, j# Hdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
. f0 C; F9 O( aDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 ?/ L1 ^5 C9 f- f
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only# H+ L! J& o! d/ f, p* C
charge the fee defined by the state.! l% [2 Z6 O) a: w0 Q' {$ T! C
- Y! o% O3 d6 {* q- W5 x/ V- VThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
4 e) d& v C! V+ X. Kon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ }. S& F# \* K4 \4 y
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big5 K1 a7 I5 G( l$ G5 _- Z- Q$ j
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- S+ F$ h( \* i3 h v
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; v% ?' q. \- ]$ J0 ]. ?+ d
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
( d- y9 Z2 Q7 {+ [2 q+ ?( X+ eschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 y/ U5 u. T3 F5 T7 p) @6 x
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people9 Q+ W' k. T1 f: ^
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 n: F( U! P/ {$ I
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; ^$ ^. j& Q9 O' F3 i* w, D( c/ l
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
/ ?' x4 X) ?5 E9 k4 Wto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' S- C5 }: m9 |: N9 ]# J. y, p- @
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
; M+ O* C* B6 U% `* Q% C: r) ]are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 }9 l7 l6 T( G% ], Q' C
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
& R; G; z4 D) t+ oown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 l3 e$ ?0 g& ~0 \" U2 ~
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' ?* }$ A4 J6 L9 x- y% Z4 Bparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the2 i# a9 o/ L7 _) G: l
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ B! g2 a- j5 H6 b: ]3 U
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" h. r0 G( A9 m$ s1 [7 C
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
/ M, \0 y+ v% A) R. c3 R/ N! ~is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- I( ?; Y7 {1 [1 L2 H$ r
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
