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: p( ?0 y" k: Y' t' t( s2 f
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
% M8 b- b m) t0 d( q5 gon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,/ d# g$ G$ H9 ^7 ^
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give5 I2 s! m. U F% q0 A3 W
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 x, O1 M9 J$ J5 F* a45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand b* k: t- M# A7 g
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is0 T/ Y" h7 B' W! p
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
2 _- Q. w/ z0 O. J. Q/ `2 l7 l! H" pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ Q0 P! Y T% e1 dmedical schools.9 @/ j( e) X9 t: F7 y
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: }" h" T; s" i( }( d/ o5 X/ Agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- e$ V# V0 t! b6 i5 U, F- L h- l
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
+ a( o9 u' O- D4 O& C! vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# w! @5 z0 P5 G, o; S3 Yis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
Q, n3 d) i% k/ b* `& qover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There2 v# Y+ l8 }! v$ @5 L s
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
6 @$ U2 ~7 u" nmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
6 d" o) C7 k/ s! O9 o' A/ n" U" Cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
$ I. `: W* A6 L' osugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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0 J4 m, ]3 H G& gThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 S: d3 ~! k3 F6 ^2 Q2 f! r
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 F. W2 w' |- A
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
* P4 r/ p* u/ }5 Zhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good+ w3 i. I! J& i; E6 c
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% q" I" d9 m& U7 @: E/ }sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& G A! [- T% O" V# V8 g
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
. c }4 u3 L) s7 rDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 a6 Q3 w+ o. e0 G( \
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
v. n) r+ V9 Qcharge the fee defined by the state.6 k; P) G3 Q2 r" h
9 \7 ^9 s* I* M. IThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* A' B6 J# L, U2 n4 v( H) P% don), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type3 M. _ ~5 q& F$ b# {, p
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- e9 @) w( l3 B- A8 i# u, g
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
" V+ \- B/ b4 w1 P) {seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* M5 E! L4 s6 u) _3 w, y' ~working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: ^! a& o! h( d& Z1 S. aschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if+ K. s3 e- L' Q9 Z- n* Z
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
6 L U4 a) L" R, Ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
$ ~6 K# f& n; ^! s( Ehiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
1 E: @5 M2 D) v/ r4 o# V- G* v# mpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want& s1 R/ C/ I9 |5 Y" t/ V
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ m- p- e w; _$ M2 U
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
5 f; T N2 O; b% a, B& j% Ware spaces.
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7 [' s+ [! t+ R, Q; p$ _( w# fThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ `- _' @# y: a
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
. m3 @3 w; ]6 \$ W1 x3 uown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
: f+ U9 `" e9 [% @# r40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
0 X* H* l! _. ?) [+ `+ H' mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 j, t; n' T, K# }1 ]! y. rbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
* P+ [+ h4 x" c* `$ Jnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 J# {) C9 c# a: p) y d
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
( m4 w! |2 H6 b% U) c/ x" G1 zis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
1 q2 v8 u1 A H% Q- Z8 | We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
