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
) O. f/ L7 P6 i5 P7 D+ i& X }standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went' S `. g" I7 `, M. O
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
% i8 H2 N6 p ~"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
. `" O- |& j5 T, sanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
4 x8 h) K% Q: U45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* l6 u8 G% [6 C" z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is* J6 r0 Y5 M/ G- k" T7 `7 P6 O( W
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 F6 C% V+ S" |! k3 i- q
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are5 B9 Y; B3 a9 z% W' W
medical schools.9 {, Z% }8 x( V. R" o. e4 O% A
/ M* n8 D# Z3 Y: Y2 m7 m! ]Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
B1 v/ ]* S# f' Mgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants+ z- x8 f, i0 R- S/ S( U" l
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
% `" T! X% K) m a0 r. ]assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; ~' j* W) y- B1 tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! T& }6 F5 [ L4 j" a
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 B3 {0 W _0 l7 P
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
/ |6 T( Q3 g8 @mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk& B, ~0 M9 o" |$ H
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
9 }# H9 i) z* k$ r( n8 @sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.' n9 v4 l. H) W# l& U4 m
5 t! y" @* V1 q( v$ C& Z! kThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
' u* O! `/ p5 w7 Q; d- @# I9 Mprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. E9 e4 N+ X0 u. L
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) n7 A4 w7 O, G8 e
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good6 o5 ^+ V7 f8 J4 }! t6 |5 F3 t% M
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
, { u' k/ l7 t- J6 Lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
' _6 f( S) r6 F2 Ydivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.& H; @- n% e; g! F+ R" M' s
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When$ [, z+ @* v6 g8 u
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only! q) x' S D2 R; U2 a- `
charge the fee defined by the state.
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2 N; f4 B& M4 j6 f6 z- _There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ l) M% }3 j* a
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type5 l: V* J( z7 _8 G( w; U3 o
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& h- _0 E0 u; j# E( F7 m$ q! X
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel' G/ d) t6 j; h
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
; `: B- Z c" rworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
- r5 e& r( c7 s9 ~schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
+ R/ _, W5 K" ryou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people$ @ x0 I# G: K& G
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 ], v" I o/ D+ hhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that* g4 Z& Y* ^, @: a6 i0 E
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) `7 I( X3 v4 k3 A+ X' W# f) pto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 V) ~6 e) d$ N0 Ybuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there) V" B" L' T: @8 Q- Q8 E
are spaces.
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* Q4 F4 @% ]" N7 \There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
8 B# K9 `/ K0 ?# rto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* A( a' a9 P& a3 P* j/ @
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 t. d; M# r) Y9 W q: c5 ?5 P
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% E6 k8 M) y3 ?+ U& p0 b; z% p
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the% e, A' z" ]' K- y2 H% I$ Z8 @% S& s
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 k7 ^& b' X" w0 d% o
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
2 d# r5 s& Z1 `! i: k1 }3 }car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& D6 J5 d/ U; Q2 Q: |# }' _8 w
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
' y3 y0 I) L$ c6 Q" t8 R! n We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
