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
- l: z, @: Y5 A8 a; ]. W& \5 istandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went9 O7 }% c* u" Q/ d- `. N7 t& d
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,( G) }1 K/ k0 s8 R' C
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* w( Z1 l0 d' a( c: ]
answers to our pointed questions.
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# M5 y1 A0 J1 \7 [1 fThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
6 L7 k0 t( M& o2 Y, M y45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. M6 v- B0 L& z3 Q! c
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is7 z4 j; X% \% K& X1 ^6 V( v5 s
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
' r% J( D1 L: ~" W2 nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; Z% L1 j9 f1 F- o' dmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the* m9 \3 X1 ?' C) I0 H$ G) r* S
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ ?7 k# p* `- Rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 S6 @8 |; B$ V6 @6 ~: q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
1 y0 G+ o! F) e0 F+ m+ Gis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
! ?* Y% L P0 s% Tover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' V% u. y# l/ a' j0 a' v g* D7 m5 v
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
C5 i+ x7 ^4 n) j0 k0 Fmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
U$ l1 \. B9 D5 o7 H- L* w- Sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
* B7 O( `- {( hsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.8 b9 S4 m' V' S. v+ m( I
9 W% U5 q; p9 d x! {+ ^The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no2 N/ @, N% F' Q& U9 Q9 X$ F
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 L3 }' Q+ U! y' m3 L4 v
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 g% o3 H: t( g
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
! v0 q* [- z$ _& X+ `, p% }; pthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
0 d/ n" p: x2 M3 Nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high$ b. H5 c/ F ]& N9 e) U
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 n0 p9 s+ }% `8 aDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When1 S1 D* z' \ S7 ^* v% r
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
, S1 p6 A0 ^7 g. W; pcharge the fee defined by the state.
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3 E" q% K6 V6 iThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* ]' B) K D# a$ A: T/ o& ?6 t6 C* Ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ V5 |: }2 w3 m1 v/ t
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
2 E' e0 Z6 p/ b3 z \, M9 Otruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ A2 L/ m a" E
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the- O0 I6 L8 `$ r$ I+ c! t( G
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
& W* Z. T; s7 W, t; u; k7 |( ]schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
9 A) Z* ?7 o3 Qyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
2 |; p g! b$ @/ P# s$ itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
- ]6 p% o4 i8 B8 y phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
# H5 L* _4 h2 y" z. ?5 ]people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
5 j; Q( A0 f9 o( eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
2 h2 `* ^- d' w: t! U7 ^, Wbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; r3 V3 x2 e5 M n+ m0 J
are spaces.9 T" x$ l0 D. r
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
/ b$ A7 L6 S) r& O& J# l2 ]to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 B$ w& z( O" I# X5 x, Z
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" N3 t% C+ D3 O; `3 Y$ R
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
1 Y( e: a7 h8 e: @2 z# sparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the, D) O$ k* Z5 Q. Z' |/ v
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few4 Y3 y, I, {4 N( q4 @( R1 L/ v/ P
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
" i+ r2 q& T- F' f( vcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it2 W2 @4 y% p- F4 a: K Y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ W% P( c7 o- M# m) p We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
