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: Y$ I0 V* t- E7 h% ?, V
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
7 A2 i- p: i9 @! yon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
5 M! o ^8 R. j! M/ p5 ~"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 ?8 ~5 H" K8 U( g0 Y7 B6 w& ~
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& R% m8 t: ?" v/ m/ Q- n& w0 |
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand/ D% g% t2 ~' H1 ]
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
$ m) O2 @; n$ Q9 N8 Ufree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams- S3 @7 B% q8 `+ B" Z: p
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are. @9 y( F$ Z f; {4 A2 p' S9 g
medical schools.
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D& d; L4 R* _3 ]6 O! iEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the0 I7 t- h% U. H2 l5 [
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants d% U# \) x% b# |) s
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 l, a: ]. h! Q5 V
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba* v1 \6 ~* {* G$ V/ G) d. ]
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
5 }, k" G' g( O. R5 ]over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
: P, v# y8 V/ Y* Gseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 |" w+ F! j6 c T
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 O4 ]- x: S6 g5 k/ @/ t. P
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
& o9 K( M9 [* a! M% B/ h( ?sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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2 m7 z- _( w* y+ C) K' rThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* W8 C- ?, g6 h" [! `4 ?
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( b2 q6 I+ `" y: b' c
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people3 q/ d$ u( n }/ J, s
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
- `7 m# ~" c6 ?& ]/ Ything about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby6 y( S$ @; s% h% j/ N6 ^0 ], d1 T
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high/ p' }/ i/ c4 X; l$ M8 |+ @
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 D2 q/ {/ p" bDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; r+ s/ V! ^6 C) m+ C+ c) f
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
; x' ]% ]+ N- x; U s: _6 t; xcharge the fee defined by the state.5 @- F% b/ J& T0 C* e6 G
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
7 Q" s* n% p# K |8 q! eon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" I0 B# N9 E! ]# g) D( t) L5 x
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big. I! @" o- S' m' X/ i0 I6 C$ Z
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ w" s- e- ~7 i$ T0 l, d3 V
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the. N/ N5 @# I, z3 c/ d- g
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
3 O* G }4 I' [% Z( z# ^: o! @schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if$ s+ D( f5 S/ Q: y" B! ^
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ o; u; @+ R! F2 @
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch& a8 ?( u _$ W) V6 Z e% F
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
/ c0 M, h J( f4 p# B& Q0 F+ Tpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' G/ K& e4 j3 Q
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 g1 o1 p( n2 L9 w
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 A: _% V9 z) b( ]1 B' B* _
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi3 O2 R/ R5 Q9 @; g9 U. X- v
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they1 b2 _8 h k$ Q6 ?9 ^
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
/ L& e" ?6 _8 d. _( t40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different( c, b, S5 ]: V4 B' L& S
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 f/ E9 ?5 C# Z o
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few8 ]9 g: z. p4 \6 O* {
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
* X' C9 ]3 C5 Q" scar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ n4 O* E. }) ~- ] x& q# Q5 l6 u
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned." c. O5 ?- m1 Y- @) F: D' A0 M
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
