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
- W5 k' a% w4 [; _- P! }standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went6 S* d) i `) e3 S; u6 @
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
% Z' C. `0 T! b/ f, R3 o5 E"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) p' H i# S+ g0 }, \# B
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 U" r4 q' R& s( t/ v% d% Y45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand6 p7 T4 ]% r; U8 P6 G; T
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
& H/ C; p/ C8 N% [/ H% I! u# U; xfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams+ O: `/ S1 L+ j6 x1 U# ]- D+ y
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! R! V K4 Y( b- H
medical schools.; R3 Q X* L j
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
/ ?8 v t9 B# I. P. Sgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; `$ y4 r) |' J0 ]to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 J6 D' U9 ?4 h5 t
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
+ _( Y& _: a1 Z5 l( Ris from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
& |% S& ~$ U; Q& d+ }( s; x' oover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
4 w/ {2 s1 ~. z1 ?* l% ?. i. xseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and7 j7 A, O& Z' u) c
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
' U3 h/ L1 O5 K. s" Xshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
% A2 Q! Z; X) v2 A0 {sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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; ]% ]% f. \' |0 h$ g' K2 [The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# B: G5 x9 l1 B! h
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# Z" T; r! k. |3 t& [4 c" z. I' k
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 {# i" _( B9 K
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
0 I. e" I" M0 K' S/ tthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( ?' u* p! ~) I$ T3 O; U6 O4 P) z9 i
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
0 E, Y! L+ L+ i* j. ddivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
: B/ X# W6 l! s, E' MDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 _# {* e3 S: i& f3 c
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
# V# Q8 l) T' [# }- Dcharge the fee defined by the state.
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0 ^* G: j) M2 C! u7 x5 uThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
6 Z8 u1 y- u; y) w$ lon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! i# j* |0 ]6 Xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big* n* y+ K1 |: {7 j
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel! C# O: L! M, d
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* o2 j# s1 Q4 f; `! A6 t" u/ z% ?
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& u( I" _3 o' c
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: _/ u6 q2 M# o( T& H! v
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. z) u' c7 i( X4 M4 {5 `# ]trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch4 p7 W h% j) j) \" A
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that3 s6 @" Y9 Z7 k9 w
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
5 Y0 o, J& ?, D. H+ d3 {2 o; B1 ito go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
3 n% k9 t+ C' G- Z+ \' |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there( p3 d6 \- |" ]3 {
are spaces.
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V$ j. s% m+ T! o3 B0 pThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 [& l* ?9 N' q/ q
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they( l( X1 f* F, ?- b& d
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! O. B$ m- F6 F3 f [
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 M# }; w9 T1 d) L5 s7 p7 y( O# R
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
4 w9 M5 {* [( Xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
3 {% @; B. s& m) L/ Snice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
4 t8 |4 I2 i2 x3 e, L8 w$ Ocar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
7 P' Q! h- X1 h Nis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ D- u) |# h" \0 I9 F" N We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
