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
7 i4 U! y0 p5 l% m: P6 ]standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 `/ z9 h: d( p8 a' t3 W0 ^
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
9 G5 `! f0 S/ l: w! c0 o1 g"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 z/ ~9 i0 r8 P8 a# P
answers to our pointed questions." c+ D$ m) F' M* x
& e, q& M2 m( |* p1 p1 GThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. U. p f# T* W; M# b' `
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
0 O# Y( L: O- O9 oout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is) ^- r5 b1 H) p$ @, U
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams# z& z1 t3 w e0 U0 _( X
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
8 ?+ u- h; c3 bmedical schools.
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4 y1 o W' g; i4 mEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! T4 j4 W& Q2 [government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- S1 `3 x6 R1 c' q4 m8 ?! H( g( oto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years0 x. u) _! Z' {& u: P, w- [
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
7 J# V$ s9 ^6 b" Kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 T* m9 P# e8 {( E
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There$ S% o- P2 r1 j$ j+ ^6 Q0 u$ I
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# {7 n. }1 O: R$ u1 ]- i
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
! [& V3 {+ ]8 n* z" ?, ?shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 B$ U, [# y4 a5 D, ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no4 O7 P2 r# s4 v7 p6 m
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# t/ `7 X+ }8 c8 j' K0 L
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
/ q4 r& J% ~1 n% dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
2 g5 g/ C3 k$ T6 ^6 E8 j3 Wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# h% b0 T! @, q+ l1 J2 D
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; o: Q$ j0 ]6 A$ i0 W+ N
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% W% D; b9 W6 R) B$ v
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
$ G9 @0 R3 W+ R$ Ga lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only4 N w% u( Q& L8 s8 G' S# ^
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" e6 J2 Y _. T+ `7 `+ \on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ p9 q/ ~9 m2 ~% ~of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
) H+ h* \' d9 m O$ rtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: @& x8 j# ?) l+ w0 \seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% z: S3 r1 Z, d( Q/ Gworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, I- S9 _% d* z6 r9 @schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
4 Q" A1 A) o Kyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. f/ ~5 I/ M0 G6 X( e, j1 l$ \trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch; A/ I7 s! Z& f3 J5 ]/ A. {
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) M9 ^3 }; i7 M$ _) D
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
+ u& E0 ]3 Z4 ?7 H+ o4 F- w8 dto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or4 S/ ]6 E4 J, o+ H0 ]
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there& @" {! g! T8 U4 H) K
are spaces.; N( q8 `( v& P# H) t+ Q: E
X. @- ]- Z F* C) @5 H9 g
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
% |3 c; H F# Q; U; j; p9 wto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
a4 Q7 d* b! P) A$ D/ |3 @) ^* town a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the- _: H- O& e% }: b
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
) ?) c# F y, D0 ?) j# e+ s' Vparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
& p4 x" a! ?& H! K; mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few5 q2 u3 M5 V$ l) Y* q
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 B5 ~7 n. O2 I5 }& T: t! j7 Gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it; q/ X/ h% f' S- j
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! H& ]* v% G, u
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
