我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living9 L4 k [; {; y$ \, j( D" ^* q7 y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
5 V3 B' t6 p6 Eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,* k3 t. f& w ~ c
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give# J' i% e9 N" x, \; P
answers to our pointed questions.
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* \5 W% o3 m# k9 D i/ HThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
- c @" `- c5 {4 S$ A5 b! A45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 m$ z& d9 ^7 i$ ^3 k
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 f. h/ I* T& k4 L7 J8 v
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams& ]; b4 e; }2 \# R6 P/ C
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 |" \9 o2 M. b
medical schools.+ {2 l! ]3 {0 w
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the) j% |9 l% |( N9 ]
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
: i1 G( s0 g! W! o9 [% N8 w1 v9 Vto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 o% T, t, r _+ Y' A5 ?6 a; p
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba5 h/ P& K5 b% B2 n) S
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
@# m/ I" g/ G' Cover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
5 O# J; b- o& w, n2 T# Hseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
- Z1 u' r6 C4 R8 u) Omostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk' L" C2 }0 b9 _) P6 n* f* O8 C& X
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 K, H! O/ w; b D
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.7 x: j8 O- C1 A: E" m
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 N6 {! P* C: {
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
# O* J5 }: F" K. Wsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
: k; J* C' `9 {have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
# y3 V$ e4 }. Bthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
: U! h) x( u4 P P9 V6 X$ Rsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high6 n6 A: j) ~) A2 o
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
' D2 a. N5 t$ n5 w% N# {Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* ?' z% X1 H1 l3 m6 e1 l
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
* F0 z. ^: G) E' Q( k% Z1 W+ Ocharge the fee defined by the state.
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4 B, v5 Q$ S, ^# v6 kThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
0 V0 Q% }% d1 A: R8 `; r1 Non), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type/ g, a3 y0 N' n$ v
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big. |/ ]* O' k. V4 `: m2 _
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
2 w$ h5 y- A6 o, F) Yseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the/ e4 w" G; n$ J7 k1 I. C
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
2 r2 U7 W o- m5 u6 B+ r( Xschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: Y) P% K/ n5 ^% D
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
3 c5 Y7 |! D# M6 i! f8 w+ w( u* O% Ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
6 }8 q, p. h- X) G3 {hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that& w6 ~! z+ e& L
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
; P! b( _9 L) y h+ rto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& J) ?4 S$ d$ b" p) Z2 |) }buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
# U, d r/ g0 M2 y; H2 A+ V( O5 uare spaces.
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5 W( i% u+ p; ?& `5 g* j! EThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
' _* `- b; G9 C6 Cto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% I% @/ A6 w) ]9 gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
8 n9 G1 c- k: j, N* Z0 _; _# S40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
! M8 y3 c' b' Q5 Yparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 f9 Z3 a. l$ ~+ h |
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; a+ X$ j! m2 e6 e r R) Inice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of6 d8 ^0 B0 n0 E5 _
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it2 |. j3 Q5 I$ e) n) y1 Z- \6 y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
# n# C* B$ U* q5 ]- ~ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
