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
% {: l8 c. l( L h# l% ]8 b) sstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
6 k" v; Y' i- g- J/ }# ^8 son a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
. Y7 |# P1 r9 Y0 f) R"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 ~. C, `! k1 S% W% {
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,# l7 d& H( ?: q# i, P! E! X9 ~
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand: w' U# C( g( @
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 X- b; a+ ~- K- `$ ffree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
& j2 j2 r8 \2 S) ~to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are4 c; e* P# ?4 \; i4 S! ]% s0 h+ {
medical schools.5 M6 _8 I0 n/ s/ y. |
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! R/ a) G5 U1 x; ngovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ W8 f5 x# a% m" d& }to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years! m0 Z, u1 n' U4 K
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. U" ~, N) W" |is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 Y; w% S1 f3 l2 X' P' @3 ~/ l/ N
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
/ D/ K- K" ^' E1 s6 U6 D2 y/ Wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and; E8 R- n: s; t' o$ }3 I1 w( L; A% f
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
) m/ \& W3 r! f e9 Sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 _ m5 g) _6 c6 J7 i" t
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. s" P( b8 r# a2 P+ R8 U
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
) v$ P6 V6 x0 E/ jprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and4 }# E7 |6 {( o3 K# z4 q+ u* y" R
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people( [$ i U4 M% N- p; t! o
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
( H, T+ b% n4 P8 r1 [thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby- ^! f4 E7 [4 O5 _& s
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
1 j+ ^2 Q4 Q; [6 p; s* R/ jdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ h9 @" h( x4 b) T3 W6 Z% FDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 [4 e: J9 y! P+ g
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* Q2 |% G" ~& @0 M8 G% z
charge the fee defined by the state.% Y( d1 }0 I$ ?* F, t, P2 l0 r
! Y( Z/ w2 r \: F. c/ Q) QThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
' ^, F7 d' K& s1 Q7 I8 b% {on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
# J4 R( B2 ?% ?, V" Nof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. t, j8 u% S+ K$ N X+ _truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
+ H6 C K. H7 u) {seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 a* p# S/ i; Q3 o# P( F) p2 b. @
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: u8 H# K2 J: _+ A6 G$ mschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- G$ Y& g Z+ q; R
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people9 b& ^0 B$ A" [/ b7 X
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( b: c* l* Y, E
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 ^, `. R. R9 P" o0 }
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: j3 ~9 }1 `2 K2 Z
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ \& N% C: b, P5 }+ @( G
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
, d/ K9 \( U, I- q; J& Z! w; n! Uare spaces.
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3 z# T9 w9 Q- K( rThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 h- y; M% R @) v2 T, v
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& f) O; u( {7 ~8 U6 E7 H
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! f# `! [* i3 r
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different8 ~+ D2 p: u# B( M. S
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
$ v2 J0 r- t# Gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" t% I- E( B# }$ A" ^6 P' J
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 B. c- }" ` y7 j. Q# b5 Icar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( z/ t k; ^; R& ?5 e: l
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.3 x( K( k% A1 [8 I2 L: d
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
