我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living4 U0 k* t+ a$ l% w) z
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went' \8 R" b/ R# {$ ?
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,* ^- c% {1 Q9 l4 Z! @% o
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give5 K# ?7 O( {8 r6 Q! ]9 T* Q/ U
answers to our pointed questions.+ ^6 C1 V7 Q6 i
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,6 G% N" ]+ O2 K3 u6 d ]# \
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
/ a% H" E# G7 \out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
$ w$ J4 q u$ Lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 ^2 L& u. O8 K
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& O5 z( c8 O+ Rmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 Q0 d; q* B$ b. v, Y. ~
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants M5 U7 R6 u6 A |2 C
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ^4 y/ K( Y& @* H% u
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba' G6 R6 y) R% J1 o; P+ z7 j
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
( x* p4 i& e& M0 q3 @+ _: zover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
5 E1 R" i5 w8 W( wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' d2 N8 r3 x0 V N8 a' M
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 V. Q2 j) B0 F# d8 L+ n1 rshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
9 s% o/ C" B! o0 t. L4 Gsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
0 P- E+ B4 j; }- S! P6 Yprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and! ]0 p! c4 f' m: D- N: } C
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
1 D, @' L/ x3 Ghave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good& h2 p, T7 X) I% j
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ P+ l/ n; u3 y. {% m3 R
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
- @( d3 s+ u" h% ?divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.7 z b$ Q) P. l. g) d9 p B' Y# S; X
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
3 v3 X% e# y, o H! La lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only4 o' E0 F8 d: d( D
charge the fee defined by the state.
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, @% h. e) K+ fThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% H% U2 w! D6 q% q4 Q9 Qon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type2 n) i- y) i" l9 P; B
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! v8 z' Y1 m# k; f$ ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel5 m# X/ j; I: n8 s
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
8 V* L) f; K' H: o; s/ i2 Cworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
1 h; f: u" q5 N0 t8 J7 nschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if( t$ l4 ^4 q. @6 o
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 g# o# ?) Q4 f8 }3 p8 x) R
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* M. G7 o* j" H' U+ ahiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' V. P: V1 j" S
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
6 p/ k; U; ?9 Gto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
4 U" W$ E* o( r Y; o7 vbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
/ F x$ V& J( c: V, V- [7 r; c% @are spaces.
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# e! B4 ?' U0 {- oThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ {5 i. a# L6 K: R0 Y' I) V. Vto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( _5 j. @2 D5 X! ^& O6 Kown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the# k$ y) Z# }5 j6 B! r: V- D! e$ z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
Z; R* s0 i! e* S# p* hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the$ F1 }% A8 n, B( X9 O. D4 b
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ Z' V, z6 o" p8 P
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
3 X- D0 Y, h, W$ ^. \! icar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
0 d$ H+ [5 @+ ?6 }+ A B% F# his a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: p( q( k5 O7 D9 Q, N, B2 m
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
