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$ V; l6 N0 J5 u& l, j$ D8 V. V
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went F) x+ b# E, g& ^% @0 E
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,! ]# w; t9 n" N
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give# e" o/ }; ^1 O4 m
answers to our pointed questions.
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1 G F! H5 z% @& `( }, d- e. ?$ pThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
?/ M+ R; g4 g3 R% A9 s i45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
6 @5 \9 f5 |) C& fout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
' R, v2 A1 `5 K: [7 J5 C5 dfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams: \6 F, m+ q) e- `, e1 v
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are* A2 Q9 E& Y7 d2 z1 | _
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ I0 F( v+ J2 Q O0 p& ?" w# d
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- u0 |( {/ [; \" Q( z
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
, \9 W! R- z' u/ u5 Nassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
+ Y( r* e& e4 _# }$ }is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to" n9 j [0 q1 }1 B! F$ V
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There/ z7 h/ H l4 S* X3 |* J9 g
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
. S+ m# t6 T2 G8 i) emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk7 K' g2 q* z* K, e; \9 c( C, _5 T, R
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some# z* j: E6 i' ?! A
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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* T, i4 V! c: o! n- r6 b9 BThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no( S9 }/ T' l' B" Q0 i, A: o- W
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and2 G. b: [' |8 x
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people( ~) L7 C4 Q) Q5 d4 J/ w8 G/ {
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good( D9 }+ d* V; I1 o$ _- K
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ w- o3 a! g0 P- I% {; M& k
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
4 D% G @, ^/ [% ?* mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 P; `; W3 F+ m6 Z! v2 j& `Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 M/ h0 {: G& \0 X5 M9 f
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& I S! Q. E- p. z; P- Rcharge the fee defined by the state.; Z2 H( m* s1 e" j$ u5 L2 C7 F
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* k# ]1 [- [) e; y! A, Uon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type3 ~5 Z, W1 N& Q5 r6 z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 n) l+ n7 `% G8 q8 `4 ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
# s$ j. f" L' W: y3 k$ @; dseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the5 n0 }( U$ Z) A) w; f- q$ T' i( c
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on( \( x& S5 `( b, K4 A) a
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if1 Z$ F! B0 _7 L8 w* l6 `' B1 G
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people; K- a# f# h$ c
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch* r2 ~! }% {, K7 f/ G
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 c8 H& H: J5 Y1 n' A
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
: P, E! p9 a+ _& h+ B* ]' c; Q, B! o8 Eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
w: a$ s" M/ h3 Pbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
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# d. y g+ m: I$ @& m# B. fThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" {( m+ @5 z1 Z( @) N
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
- v" e; g3 [0 a" Z0 jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the; g( j9 o. f4 r% f& q0 x
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 W5 O$ M0 j* W7 B* Nparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
' _4 W. x; v. T! `, Ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few* y& G; B0 y% n# F5 q. F1 Z
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
& i- C/ I) H; ?0 C! ]/ g# B: acar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ a9 i7 h( U/ k
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.9 V' p: ?3 P1 k
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
