我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living8 _& F+ Y( G7 r( v/ Q/ h7 n8 g
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went9 T5 L0 {# ]3 C8 P
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
9 y& W: q: C+ ]+ R2 _5 H"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. C C. C+ o$ k0 c, U5 ~: | b
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,- r$ ~- R/ ^3 j- X! D* a) @
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
|$ b0 i7 k1 c, s- J1 h$ r8 aout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
6 S" q) q+ a! C2 a2 ]free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' u: v1 A: G2 @7 V7 x2 Q
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; j* h( R, D! P9 M* q8 P, v& {medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 h7 e, _) L4 Z9 `3 m
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 |+ q5 ?1 i0 @; F' i5 V0 A/ l
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
. b4 q7 l" K1 b8 }8 ?! i; _assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba0 w1 Q+ E3 S' ~
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
0 |; l% U1 f* N' v! Uover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
' k" e* z. O6 J$ `5 pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 n0 i5 C- R; K P0 b
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk G$ v7 D/ ]+ ]1 ^8 W: M
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
( {: K% u& y* w" w. N( C% Dsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# I; p2 k: y5 G! |9 z: u1 e& a
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
8 ]' P& M3 I @# Q- z6 ?' b' ?! @private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, ^/ X% V- l P5 p& r8 Z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people& F: X/ v1 U: g* e2 |7 E3 B
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good, Z7 j0 ]3 x/ [$ c; z3 R0 Z( j5 T
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ _1 L. G$ C2 w( \* v$ \% e
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high7 f* D) ]% v& \$ N; D, g: [& I8 P
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* @! z4 e3 t% z& |. z9 L" YDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
# l, f t5 `7 `# r* f g" t2 ya lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
* t- T+ o/ t& X6 C" l% H4 D& Ccharge the fee defined by the state.
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0 |( E- S& y/ W: `& h% gThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
9 ^* g2 H2 r& X7 c. xon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! _# i" V+ _! l, A4 wof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
8 E3 o1 ~: G2 l0 \2 Rtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
7 N& }( _. ?/ i1 O3 v4 b" kseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
1 _5 c7 O ^6 b1 yworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, m. ?7 H) Q# u4 L
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& U' }3 }1 c) m8 ?( U4 k0 j3 V
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people: K; [# c0 U/ _; q
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( G# P% {- [. U& S, N+ u9 H
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
. x$ Z; R+ \& q7 m+ @7 f" Z# v/ Jpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
3 S" C9 r& L) s" M2 }3 ?to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or u/ W" {, |2 @4 D
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
- N V [, j- ^) y9 W6 yare spaces.- E3 [' G" X3 e7 r5 W9 e
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
* T) d5 }; B: ?: Q( Xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
" H H1 _( g% T8 P* qown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ g. e# J5 N. @40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different: R- N" S: A4 ^/ l! g9 u- L9 V
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: |; h7 e6 v+ [3 S' ?. l
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& N7 p h" x: ?2 F0 k t1 e$ n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
$ b6 D: H! M U! c) Icar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 ~( J1 L, V, ^# x- N8 y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
6 W0 l2 S9 A' n1 n We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
