我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living1 ~9 O! P/ _& d4 s' J
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 m! A) B0 n- k2 l. a) son a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,! b0 ]5 B% \) b7 U6 v
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! O/ P F' d- t" U" Q
answers to our pointed questions.
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; t! y9 |; \/ D8 F1 t' n& EThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,! b F+ f7 m9 f
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
e( \" R- z8 q: b5 d+ S7 z3 Tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
3 e, V% T0 x8 f! _* Pfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
6 ^6 J& E5 |2 X, U" jto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are2 j# D( ?/ H( p6 I& v1 G2 P
medical schools., ?1 w) N, n! t3 F* C
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 P2 n4 {* E0 L7 s- A" x
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 Z' q9 Z- q6 r2 T; N+ z
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
/ i) p- M0 g) |; r* Q4 @* oassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- |, L. _) B- M$ @
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
: T" v/ p$ ]* ~( w9 @; W$ Rover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" r5 F% Y0 D' v9 A3 B
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
; p K7 ^; q3 o' g; p+ F- Emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
% q# c2 b; N8 B5 [shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
a0 W# E+ l, ?0 O3 E8 ssugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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9 @' V+ ?9 z8 C1 H8 D$ jThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
; J" b& X* ^+ ~: K6 W/ gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; q4 D5 l+ ` M, h9 j/ d/ Jsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people2 M; H& e2 n) r0 W! w& D
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
. y( u' J: a2 ~/ u: e+ R' A; q1 c1 [thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 Z0 I9 ?2 o# I$ C Esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high1 N* m( ^: b0 T
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
% y) K# d" b$ N. a' cDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When1 X+ @0 F3 a; m& o" l
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only& p' Z$ V0 `: w3 V5 b; R9 M; I
charge the fee defined by the state.
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4 e. W2 d: x Q# F9 w) d9 Q0 ^There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
( ^; @( W Q5 b: g9 O/ _on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type' `& B( O1 g* l. Z" x0 a+ Z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
/ J' o; @8 e( w H- Htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. {$ y8 z% i7 |/ o
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# J; x# o: f3 ]
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
4 i0 O% W! N2 C. X/ Y0 L& fschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& f: R7 R* V6 e1 L
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people# R y4 O% o9 T7 X
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch4 X6 P9 i$ S* F( w% L) q9 ~
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
) P3 p* }7 y4 s% n; r6 O4 ypeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' m7 ?, z/ W2 l$ D& U
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
1 j0 b) p' l, }! d) ~buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
1 Y: d5 |! c0 K( m- f6 iare spaces.' ~. j; A# u. _
; J; s X ~/ U, m3 G' @0 uThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi3 j+ [* D. h& n) G1 Q6 A1 o, ?
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
, |2 V. ~3 u* h+ |( t* Zown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& T$ R& J/ J$ N0 l/ Y- W% ]
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, @( O0 X3 S) s( E# hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the f2 x& @& T; L2 P4 w
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
1 c5 |. W& t1 g: ?! {' z; lnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
9 ~- y% c5 f' g% Z7 {0 B5 [car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) I4 S" e: G+ n1 O! e* {is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ W s. U& O" [4 S" \) W) `$ o We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
