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 a4 h2 Z% y; u( |) e+ P- J
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
& `* o9 b C- ?; n2 Z2 @2 Uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ n8 @. M8 ?6 n% I
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
9 S1 S- `( C* J: _- k0 qanswers to our pointed questions. g4 r8 E" e; q p/ v a
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,$ g5 f( y0 B; Q4 h' o% f
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# a* O: G4 L. `. d7 v
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
" T! U! Z, U$ S7 Jfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams2 a# {3 E% H* `: m
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
+ @6 ~8 p5 X2 N* R7 \1 Tmedical schools.* r2 S& f9 \# M8 e3 ?+ k
$ _$ Z7 A& u C# k3 CEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the3 M" V5 ~ G' ?8 l
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants3 \# `, f1 K" K# R. V; `- \* x
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years5 l0 {7 I" j# ~7 O5 k% N4 A
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# }# B. s4 s& E) @& \* `is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to: Q+ l+ @- y. ]" `
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, H0 k+ i' ~, ~- k! i# }seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
% r3 G! M: T7 i% V2 Fmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk7 b8 G4 }- ~9 h+ e! W% ~
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
* q- \8 b6 R( b" f6 Nsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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! z7 O1 o7 d! x. \The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
8 n9 M6 f3 [% @0 Q, X3 f7 Mprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% M, ~& I1 {+ b6 W4 m
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
1 s; U5 G/ C' J& thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good1 {+ r0 O" j' K" X8 ]8 \
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 C7 J! q# o4 \, {% Dsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) ^" n- h2 Z% ~& B& T2 u/ _divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ b* V; {+ Z- J5 M' o, Z2 `5 QDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 c% I. l7 E* f& w& @
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. ^8 g' G( }! K. m$ p8 @. Z& ^- z
charge the fee defined by the state.
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) [7 z, ^) t7 D: s; SThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ T) @) q* A* O1 q- o7 t
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 Z& e/ a+ d* R2 f5 y% M% G5 Sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
$ N! d7 y" j4 J$ ]truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel4 V- K) S* h: i* k/ |, Y4 \
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
( I3 t0 A) ~! J2 g2 Uworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
6 o5 G( e8 \0 v* A5 dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
8 I m. G. t" T, F1 wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
7 p: `9 m1 v" a2 m5 L g5 \trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
5 _) i7 P+ A8 S( O4 |/ O7 q2 Yhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 g C, F9 {$ Y" W/ B
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" y1 i9 F, c9 X9 O2 ]# Ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or4 A- `# o6 r, t. H8 W( z" Q
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
0 s/ A7 b! `7 ?; Uare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! s/ Q) @$ S1 }. M' }" fto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 o; Y2 p A1 P+ c
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! o$ r/ j0 R( k, _
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
7 m8 p4 t. E g* \, |* i' w2 H" W* Iparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 t, ]& G0 h/ @0 x; D3 [
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
+ f( d8 ]) e$ z9 a; j0 c( i6 \9 g+ nnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
" _3 ^ y+ U# }car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: E. s) p% }1 O6 l' g
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.. n( J. m2 @8 m
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
