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/ u6 b* ~9 T4 F) x$ G
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- o2 g* ?3 Q8 o* z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
$ j* O3 S. y& a6 _"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
# U" o f! ^+ J& e7 E) Oanswers to our pointed questions.
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- A0 U/ |8 I$ I# eThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,/ X2 q# l4 M8 P. @5 E
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand: F& v s- v# c/ p2 V
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
6 T7 C' U5 ?; hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
3 s* [2 D8 {) y/ ^to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" A0 V% l9 f# Zmedical schools.
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: i* I6 Q, | Z* Z$ T/ t \Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
6 F4 ^: x% p" T( H. b. Q# o* Ygovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
( x. e8 L# v! Rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 N7 {, ]( o% \
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
' c, e- x/ q; mis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
! g& d5 \/ U' @: e# [" I uover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
( c2 M7 A) R, w. i) b1 V; Z2 fseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
9 y$ a! K0 `2 A& a3 [& C hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
/ Q. Y9 M5 w" L% s ^) sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
5 b! S; W) N; T" Asugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no- K9 M+ P& {! ~+ t- ]7 {
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* }% y& N' m/ M. U9 h [. P4 m5 zsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 H# p/ x5 K+ O
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
8 l4 I1 N! ?1 u( I3 `5 q! m! U& ^thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# X- {- ]! q4 h" _sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 }$ J, ~! L/ O9 w- _ v$ ~1 k
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: t" x) X% z2 p! x! N B1 Z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When) _9 m5 x% z' K/ _
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
, {' U3 y6 q& Acharge the fee defined by the state.
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. O% E1 g$ y# K& y3 V! H/ NThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
7 g; i2 X, |' @4 ]on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
B3 A% ]+ ]* z& p! ]of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" A; L d) O# g, t6 I' S
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. A' T. d Q; S0 @
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" H/ S& X7 s5 N5 w' \: E9 _working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
# i4 e, G& i- c4 I9 T9 s. Aschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
2 e9 C) B' Y1 i5 Lyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
( L3 {" ]( p, H' P/ o5 Q3 @trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
; L" j7 Y& ^+ {! E. B& rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 ~) w) J/ I* M+ ?/ x8 Cpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want3 e9 w3 q" p& m Z
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or y0 y6 G+ Q" J1 E5 N
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 U3 x( k$ b, r" l/ E3 B
are spaces.5 r/ i3 X5 A! s/ C' c
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
# X. \2 Q, e% x F+ i+ e4 xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
: _" ?8 L- i" f0 zown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
# T2 j" D& y& @) m8 O: `8 d40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 P9 ]% M" C n
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. E+ S( X5 n( u- E
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! s" f4 h: |% w
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of# p) n2 Z* k9 \. {2 E
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
% v, U/ I3 s# i# G/ k1 a! Wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- X+ `4 H8 N8 e# m
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
