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$ b) C1 [( A+ F
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went* D: t4 n3 ~& U/ R! M" C( D! ?* R
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,1 c) f3 V' c! ?6 y+ u3 K/ S
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
# j- k2 b2 g7 uanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
1 l- j# Y! h9 U/ [4 n( N s3 [45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! U4 y$ Z3 W1 W% u
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
6 l" W7 t) C# l7 r ifree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
8 ]( [+ Q: U( M5 L" Tto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
- }* b, Z* A1 n5 Imedical schools.$ x5 g7 E( q: ?5 J) x5 r
# r6 ~- S8 i4 dEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* N8 T5 P4 q+ p& Vgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; `6 _6 B5 w8 e7 yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years1 C/ {1 I& k6 o8 o; M' d5 v2 X
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& y9 s# e+ J; xis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
x8 T% K+ f: G+ e' |" s0 zover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 ~- [& _' p4 ]0 H" ]
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
, a [& O' @( ?# z$ n( q8 T- _mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- T" P6 j0 g* k; ^7 {
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
9 c: y; r8 p3 V* J& u* c/ F+ G" Osugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no' ? u' T8 U8 c, i
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 k5 i+ X1 O B% u, _0 z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people5 ~7 n$ W9 L& `- e
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
6 d, E- S9 A4 u8 a1 s5 ~thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
6 M2 u! d: b; L+ A# _sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, M$ x2 G7 F. U+ q/ Ldivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 r% S, c5 @8 @+ `Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* z" s% b4 C9 _# ~0 n5 i' q8 ?# Ra lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only5 h+ a$ j0 u; O: k$ G
charge the fee defined by the state.
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5 R3 g1 Q* Q3 vThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" l+ D, ^* a7 V$ o9 f) E% V7 G5 ]on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type' c% [8 a+ {. G# P
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
# e$ D. r( f9 W4 K% ytruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 y) R, S3 H6 ]0 {
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the0 G# ]: I4 f$ I% o' {3 v3 O
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on1 y0 a3 e4 }5 c; O
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
- k' o% {; R, |3 h1 fyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 K. @; o- ~# i, u; m \1 o# z/ a
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
$ e: Q0 ^1 k- q% [. d7 _: H1 Ohiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
, O* ^. l- @" B* o9 r7 N, J5 ~7 Jpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! b# g2 l( |: ]- [0 Mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 V% y/ J" Y, T& T
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there3 ~' d. R& y9 h2 E% O
are spaces.
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% R6 z `( B+ d& D+ XThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
& Q2 \/ U, \$ y' p/ ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
- O! S1 X3 z [' M* @' B0 \own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, e6 P- P3 e/ u9 X% }40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 v C( [+ S+ j" @9 i1 }' W2 I
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
: U" s1 V9 \& ]% [best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; o% ~; d3 w9 D; K
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of4 J' D; _6 U; g$ w( T
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
5 D3 v1 H+ Q/ S+ A4 xis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: r4 G6 Y. Q& B2 L7 Y0 M" Z; I3 b
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
