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# f$ z* G" [. f, G) E! i. z
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% m0 T# l) J( Y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
- `* }% c; l3 Y5 `7 _+ L9 G! b"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, j" V" b0 ]6 a( g' K& j
answers to our pointed questions.
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0 T) o" S6 l6 IThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
0 w, S7 k) m6 E" T/ X' |45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
! Y/ I9 f. e0 }% q& ]5 ]. ]$ _& bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 L) d: z& }5 e8 y
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" p4 D% Y4 z1 N* }4 ?
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 J' M7 G3 k% ~1 Z% U6 o
medical schools.
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z2 h2 k7 j1 M! g$ M! iEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
+ |1 J9 m9 E1 Q E8 H( q' Kgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ w" C; u" O( v8 h1 i9 O6 S# [8 O. qto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years) f9 v& u. _9 M
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba3 S8 L* y* H/ E6 J$ P- ]; b3 s
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; f- [% u& M; J" w+ V5 a3 P
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 W' Z; }4 z0 ~ X$ }% s& Oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
4 u5 K) j+ O& n# Omostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk3 w& |, F4 y0 s! Q9 H6 O- k1 |
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ [8 i- { L% q. Z$ k! J, F2 wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. Y! {9 K( M: i' D0 H" u: Gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* ?4 i9 M+ Z. E, K
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people3 w8 e3 a( x5 _0 h; q$ A- U. n
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good6 Z- V* K: \0 r+ [+ Q% ]! a
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: V1 k2 O( e4 d9 Q
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 x& O/ i2 z5 D1 q/ `
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.5 }# B0 @. {' h% g. x0 i M, ^( f
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
2 q& x( V& v( j, i3 \4 ba lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 c1 D5 l7 a. P. C, \& B5 p
charge the fee defined by the state.( t# X# y! {9 x
% h; w# u( I1 K3 A# @5 kThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" o2 \7 n8 G7 l( c# u; p. |% hon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: X! t- c9 y. f* a0 r) v
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big! D; u# d4 Q9 a1 t6 c% I/ x
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel7 Q* E- x6 j9 Z: ~4 e2 U/ C: V1 O2 k
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 F* i( C! _- h3 _, |
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
" ^. ^* K9 Z3 |0 X7 l }schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% Y. ^4 M: Z2 j# c" L: _, a3 r2 nyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% r w m+ f; |9 Q7 Z+ U
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 V( `. b7 c9 o$ v
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% |( w3 y$ {6 x6 Z$ N: D1 Q
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want# ]( U% p" q) ~. S" M- N
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 P$ F8 P, U2 O$ \0 g0 a
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
- \* C3 D2 d$ O% E2 D h' b: uare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
$ I" W. l5 d; m, G( y+ ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they6 \+ f2 m4 |: s7 p$ X
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
; l% n% G7 p+ Z- h6 Q, B40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ p7 W5 }# R$ e& |2 N8 F R
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
4 z- h7 D& z$ n: k4 i, h+ lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
2 f4 c; e$ s6 R1 a# A8 Z" X0 Fnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of! s+ u% ]& k" O3 u- w d( `
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' h3 M/ a2 ~) M% I. W7 h9 X" B
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 X9 B& t$ T8 Q1 ^8 \' ~' x- \* G
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
