我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living6 M9 r3 l: F- @) J- w
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went+ ]6 W$ Q' x' Z2 L9 |* g
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
( w' O& ^+ Z* [) d"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 }2 S9 G/ H6 e
answers to our pointed questions.+ n; J3 G! `- X/ t
( ]2 G9 w: O6 y- @3 p3 mThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,5 k- v5 m* }. Y: E. `* t8 H
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand+ H' o: Q+ a$ u5 D9 F3 Y
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
, D6 H4 d: a7 U6 ^free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 d8 u5 y$ v9 ]to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
3 `+ U- d6 i7 ?0 w4 Q2 F/ T7 Lmedical schools.9 P( v3 Z: v2 X, O9 a7 H i7 {# y
: c2 T0 E+ e1 T# kEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" x6 N; E$ V: t% `2 x) x
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
N n9 Q! H) h- v! ?* I) kto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
: o+ W; K, P2 Iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
8 ~ S! ~$ e! c* [3 {is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- O- I m& X/ J# K9 T
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, D3 w( W8 U9 q* Q$ U/ kseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
6 ~9 d9 @# x: Y& t* q. N& m7 rmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ F! ]: J% b8 ^ e
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, j' D0 p/ t8 X9 M# q% wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" b2 l: w6 t! n$ o: m
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* H2 o v7 w2 X: k: `, E2 Vsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people/ l1 O! H& A0 l; x* T
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good7 d+ u$ j$ Z/ R; E4 E
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
' C m8 X" z6 J* Z2 p7 Xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high" J2 K- g E. ^6 Z0 j4 @
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; x* [0 Z6 W( L0 iDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When5 R6 E! B7 ~2 F8 W& M8 g3 {
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( w6 n2 y0 V; v) p
charge the fee defined by the state.& n: C$ T6 X3 C( L9 n$ p
8 k0 u: P2 b$ N4 P' MThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ O4 _! x7 Z0 D* b& A. j# q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 ^3 W3 O6 C" ~; M3 N e' w1 a* c
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ @$ s6 u2 F+ a y. i* c5 X
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel3 E8 m# D+ }2 V7 l
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
4 a0 s+ f, h& y( G0 P9 Z. wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
+ l% R/ E; z0 D1 O) `% pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
. o1 X. k# R" b- ~, syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
4 C) S( i7 l* J7 S1 D! s6 [trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# F2 E/ a# n" d' q7 ehiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
- X4 n Q* W3 k, Z3 Npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! C# y, _5 E" I" f3 ~to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ s& M" e" w6 c# ]( G) R" D$ F
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there$ I$ O2 X5 z) p) Y, K& y9 |
are spaces.
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. i4 R: u1 i/ SThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 {, m6 f5 t# r T) ]6 R
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they5 A1 M8 Y4 @6 [5 z1 O" D3 A
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 W! ^, B( O! c
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
0 z; S: G: d$ E8 Q6 pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
" H( H5 Y. s# k0 jbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
' |7 i& ]' N s( O. W6 R! V$ [0 q- |nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ m1 R1 s: @3 j- ]' @' K0 ]
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) z$ N5 i W) yis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 v8 O3 ^5 g* r+ k# } We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
