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 }3 \1 M, w+ V* C5 z
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
% {( i" w3 [9 ]& [% K) s4 son a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
5 Q6 |* `1 o! l"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: |4 y0 i8 r5 T; D
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
) J. R/ e# c' p% \9 ]# r45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand+ F7 f1 @) Q) u0 v% q2 c. W. \
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
! Y) Z* [8 o9 N' e5 _- o0 nfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
# j9 U9 T6 n2 z: S3 ~. ?- ^6 M. {to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" h5 V; `" t# I% v, a
medical schools.2 Y) L$ R8 f0 [& ^8 D1 U
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
) L- B) |# x6 r# D: jgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ ]; \5 |6 Z; o& k0 q, |9 wto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. w* D1 l5 i: e* j
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
6 Z8 T7 k0 H; N2 z' Wis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
" ]2 j' j6 l/ Y* Z- ]& O5 Oover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, |* R+ |0 C* _seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and8 g5 I, n$ F% {8 r* C: G/ R/ g8 }
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) s5 C, K3 U/ q' K1 k
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
0 f( q R( H9 O k, a) Lsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ t, W ~) n! p& k+ u2 Y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
3 @( g8 f% N; l1 \supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people" _2 }0 s9 V+ G% g
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
! F4 y7 g0 d$ ~' N* othing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( m+ {4 j( a" d7 i
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& _: h1 M! B6 c, ]) S9 ]9 L9 b) }divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. }! m2 G0 K+ \8 W
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; V3 N" V% n' Z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
V! H" Y: \( X& A6 V6 ]6 g# i0 Pcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: u4 V4 y7 [& s7 W5 s9 a5 X9 I" e
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
) f. G7 ~% g" N5 R; D; w6 `of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ P; ]* y& T) o d! Y) e
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
% C7 ^- _& q' z$ C5 i `seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ]4 k( z+ f$ c5 Z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: u% \/ _; v: I+ W* E
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
! @: k; C5 I% |& t$ L" syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ R6 t$ E6 E$ \trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 Z K# t3 F2 @; @; c. V
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 c0 y# H' \1 }" A9 {
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) b3 z( j7 h: J9 R2 Z- s, R# K; wto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or( H, h2 Y( t" i' i" |5 y9 I e6 A
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 o0 |; Q* K0 p+ U9 X
are spaces.* `/ A! a* \3 K8 P6 A
5 m' `5 `0 m: _2 M: u- B, qThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 b' A- K. O4 e/ L E- K
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
; z/ Z7 X) ]" Y7 Mown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
# s' \! w: n4 |1 N, d40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
4 J/ W0 j, w2 v" M+ Y& aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 }& ~. L6 G% Q
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 r7 C0 l Z1 ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
2 v1 s8 E/ \5 C) ^ bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it2 c3 V) X) x8 D; {7 |
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& r& h: x6 Z7 r; Z, v% u8 L
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
