我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living7 n- O1 g1 M2 J4 y# u0 ?
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
7 s- v" H- O7 K4 @4 K6 K: von a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," I# v, M( ^7 L% d3 J/ ]6 I- f, f8 p
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 B1 p1 i9 \- Z2 m, q
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
! Y* c2 z) R3 I* D/ U' h45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) @) s5 N3 _( V/ x4 p, R9 U7 I& ~out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 J! _0 h9 J9 q- ]
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
% t- d4 P1 i% q% p4 ~to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ A% J( O$ w+ L* Z) R
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
8 J* u- [* J; ], @% e* |! [4 j0 ^government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants' K9 G& {0 c2 ?& g2 N* {+ T
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
& `4 U1 E) F8 A- ]/ Aassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba& C1 m' _5 s6 w$ C1 f3 t, c4 Y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
) k4 { N6 S; i& F( u. p- x" `over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% N7 ]( i* }8 [7 i
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
' f* o0 [4 f. q. x" L q1 `/ ~mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
; z, e% q; G; W$ |- a# m7 b4 N3 \shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, w- s4 V8 R9 u0 q/ ^+ e# Osugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" t3 [; Z2 z* l5 u/ U: D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and4 ~* O T* T9 \" y
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
& u4 d% I) k' a8 W- e0 n# D8 \; S# Yhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good: p- U9 e5 O7 ^) @% D6 u
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
/ H: j. G: S# {+ G* g8 d+ K4 Usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: Q) L o/ @8 p! a+ j
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.7 s) A" z5 }! ]# g# u
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& u0 V( z* h4 q7 c) V
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 g& U# l$ J" G
charge the fee defined by the state.
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9 g+ g+ [0 g. z8 W9 m" g+ hThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get" I9 ~4 G. M- L
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 ^5 m( \) {4 t! S; {- V( D
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
3 S$ [* @/ M, G& U$ Ftruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ ~1 t2 Z( k+ F8 @; c R
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
! j! \6 R7 @/ T& H9 v7 p5 Zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
4 M ?, U4 m$ F, u4 ^schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 ~. k9 T+ g* e0 r5 y4 T* |4 r
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people0 [5 N& r3 F7 j! S
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
3 H1 `1 P7 \; h( ?2 N4 _" m) `hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 x S2 b8 U2 s( j4 h3 A0 \; F
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 d2 E" M# ~' c+ eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& C0 P' R$ [4 ]
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there8 Z0 }" U5 J' X: t
are spaces.! R, h9 n$ P" g# m/ H
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
6 f# ^0 k1 Q7 u: [to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they8 D$ [# N8 a- l8 e ^
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
3 f2 ^6 [; A* M' S( M40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different: ?! Y# G6 E3 o, f7 Q% @' S0 j
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
( u6 @3 K: d* P( g: j0 F _5 vbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few: a6 D# I& x: b& T; j. w2 Z
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of& @6 ^! P. b. _$ ?2 y
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; M4 H/ n' x7 g$ f: @is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
4 v0 p( ?5 h! X/ J( s2 G We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
