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- z. r3 O, l s8 ~- ?; C; d
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- J3 O# o/ J9 V2 M; t
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: n h, w5 l" J: r' y( q; Z9 h, @
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( |8 p' f# d3 L; {answers to our pointed questions.
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) C2 D# D1 A5 W2 fThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; P! D5 g- R! N, |* A2 Z5 x
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand, {" O& ]8 Q+ {9 c
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is3 P: Q2 s* }1 ~; _* b
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; I& u: i/ `) P3 s$ ito get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( B( v5 _3 N( z' g0 y0 j( L
medical schools.* ^& n& Z2 H: ^) a5 c+ o- K! ~; }
9 |- B8 Y& U8 P d5 M& d0 eEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
( k- j" U4 H0 t- V+ [4 zgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ D5 a$ Q, b! e/ j& w# dto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
" F2 x$ v. k) D1 e1 Massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba3 K1 U' M4 B7 L/ S3 L7 z) v
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
- W. S/ k7 }/ zover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ x- v9 L H1 J) X9 K+ e9 u
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and8 Q! f! w. Z8 F3 X5 F$ `
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! x) d) B1 _4 t; K" H' |3 I
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
9 ^4 s" p1 b Jsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.5 ^+ k9 _: S7 u% R! f, c& v7 w% ?
1 g, v, s; l K5 I' {) e% lThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
9 Z# W0 \) ~7 [ k5 ^$ Qprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
r7 H/ M% t6 w! x. h8 lsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
% Y9 J" L) Y- _2 chave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
" x. V7 T9 Q& A2 |" L! k2 f6 [. mthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 u; a* ?* N0 b2 v- E, @
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high* ~+ F0 a9 ?$ [, i2 k, p
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# a, [! n: |) i5 v% @- ]' W+ E
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When7 n' }# ?8 e. { ^9 C' S, ^
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 }- a B7 }' j* _# [/ pcharge the fee defined by the state.0 Q0 H8 i/ _0 f: d' ~- z
! M4 N# {+ f9 |There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 y$ B( y& X4 V. U! L9 y, D
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! w( Z: J1 {6 ]# B( O% R9 G" r
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
7 @$ r: Y7 ~, _truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ m x; t. N8 q4 _1 d
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! M) p( [- C9 |+ W
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
1 H% N4 c5 c, N1 I( ?2 Z7 E3 bschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: n) C- l% i1 v# ^& kyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. ]+ f6 @( \# P6 @) T
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch: K! ~ G4 n- [' f* a
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) c* H( W% S8 `" r' _6 R
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want( M, i/ f5 Y/ q5 Z4 D1 m# B
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 s: p. @* r7 [. h9 q3 `
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there& h d$ L4 b/ N3 R" a2 C
are spaces.# d8 ^/ e3 V, H
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
/ |+ r2 M- @+ |# Hto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
, v! G- @" ^8 m2 z% g1 l5 fown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
: s1 E4 i; e9 q40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' o) b* U2 L# _( M+ `' @
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the; P* [3 Q( l. _" Y) X. H- G
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few: d' O' P$ o3 k y4 Y
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 T% y, a( w( r& N9 p! [
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& j5 s, c" ^# R& J4 f/ V
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
- z3 d; g) q7 X" T3 o6 v2 r! w We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
