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 ]4 a0 E2 T B7 W: I
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went, k, l/ w. A2 D$ @. c( w. R# }
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# |: W& U1 \3 B3 e$ ]8 {* u# b"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 G$ l% B6 y+ @, a B
answers to our pointed questions.
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! A/ p; @% V' F% p- p3 N3 vThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 ^6 ]$ p: Q' D7 r! D
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand( ?( X; `2 I* K; |6 j7 h0 m
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ D; {1 [ t: U7 O' wfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
- K) ^; w C) D8 R. W/ ito get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are% T; ?( D h, d0 z. K( R% s0 y. {
medical schools.: I/ E. p" D. m' K4 b$ \# ~# f" [. O
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the! I1 ? N3 K# E) F4 `( G3 l
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; v/ ^# |' X J0 hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ }1 W4 {3 K, |+ ^4 K6 A
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- p, W4 [7 {, t
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 p# S3 V6 s: p1 x
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There5 } O" M& z l" Y; |- G7 s0 ?4 V
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
6 r" w: X- s- M9 I, Fmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk' W. a, R! w. a. Q2 r' N
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some+ \9 `( T% d" d; G" y& t) v# V" |
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no- Z5 }9 Z, Z; N( a/ M' q6 {* R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
& M- O. C, k1 u/ Usupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people+ v) p* Q, u, N. z5 @2 l4 u
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good# w) ]) Y+ S3 ^ L& n/ A
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby- |9 s# n( t A' C: K8 o) ^
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high/ G+ P& m( {3 w$ V% C$ |
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
! w' P* J l( {' P6 rDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When- c( P/ }2 l7 c W+ }6 N8 h% P
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only/ h/ U( e4 T0 |6 d N
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ E% N7 G# J {- ]
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
" s2 R7 K5 s* e' p: @. E Xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
& O/ x: L7 z$ a1 Z% e( _- ctruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel$ Q) b# k4 R4 y) ~- }7 g% q4 o. }
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
7 S& I* _$ j& M3 J+ kworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on3 h5 F" y( F- F1 P0 K
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if @8 f1 i9 P# ^/ ~7 B, V
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
8 o7 f9 q. W4 w8 |& otrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* Q0 P) i0 I6 ~/ rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that6 S; _ F# g3 j: f6 T+ O% V
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) x" D9 F( L# T' {3 v" G2 }5 R
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" R J5 I+ m+ I) _3 S
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) Q' k' d! [9 Q7 nare spaces.2 a' V+ t1 ^6 d6 ]% v
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
6 T, m- K( Q3 uto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 o/ x0 Q, k6 G: [; x s
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
' \# q2 q, z2 n* [40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% i: v, u2 `% ~' R2 N' E) k% y
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the% I* R* g) X7 U1 t5 C+ K3 t) S' N
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 R8 J2 l( K5 T; t. X' G# ^* f |
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ m1 R. R" D3 }! Y8 F- A5 g7 D
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it }- n" r3 `! h- x T" b' h, ]" @+ g
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.9 W# Y& T: [3 W' N, Y
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
