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! G. o7 g, p6 `9 t
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
* m4 }3 @: u7 s' t Uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
; k" S0 a. \: s5 c7 C"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ q! u/ o) v. b0 Y9 b$ U
answers to our pointed questions.* J. n0 u! j( J- P$ ~
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
3 X3 q) ]& F% @5 a6 f45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand7 C1 h1 H/ j9 ]) m) q) x2 g
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is0 `) @; |. s C5 K' h+ v/ k
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. Y* ~# J+ D: _4 ~" ]4 w3 ^to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
/ R' F, ~- G O6 u0 @$ @" ]medical schools.
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" ^1 t! B% Q& p3 ^Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
8 ^% ~ E/ J8 C" [government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants7 I2 W9 B" {1 {- X# n0 q# v( Q
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
+ l' p7 s& L' q3 s1 a$ f" y1 yassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
8 k8 P/ ?: x* [6 U6 X$ x! U$ U& ?6 Kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
4 f$ }7 Q* @2 g/ p/ S$ Qover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% S5 v( c( I8 u& r) }( i6 H
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, Q% \5 k# m% S. a( }2 B, a& b
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: q( K$ V0 r/ V9 S3 D
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
+ j: U- @8 ^3 K7 [. psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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) C3 l; m% [9 e" r G; |3 fThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
% M8 b+ Q" h5 m y( F9 bprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 M* @; s. K0 z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
4 X) k4 a5 s) l7 s) Z2 \have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* {; d% o) q6 w8 d- N& b( ~
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
0 g7 d0 b, B2 u% e/ asitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 [1 ]5 }( b+ }# Y9 {
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
2 H @' [4 E4 u) r$ sDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
^: L$ H R3 t* Fa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 X' f, m$ P. J7 P. ]% K; @
charge the fee defined by the state.0 S9 {, I% j1 H7 D% B
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get6 q8 o% \* g0 Z+ J
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
# F- ?2 u9 E2 W" U: G# iof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big3 f+ P# Q/ F( ]* x. U
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
* W9 j7 s' T9 E# P- f5 aseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
. C5 u: I- F1 ~# K9 Q$ Fworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: A+ [ T4 r; q
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if' J" {: U" d/ \; L' A4 J
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people l- s8 N. n0 T! N3 b4 K
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 ~9 A" M: M: \0 ]( E+ x X
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 t. G6 v7 V( L8 _& `
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 G9 o. \0 I& d& F: e0 @to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 c7 _2 n4 u0 _
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% u2 j4 R2 ]6 j# a) f: {& T
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi S! q& N* ~2 P; t8 G- F
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they' l/ d! W5 Y3 [. l. s
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
' L9 x- g+ j; [& a0 Q40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
; M; w/ k: k( ?1 b* Cparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
* ?3 M# ?: }- y1 @- C& N @best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; G3 x5 z: I1 t5 Dnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of( U+ n( r# z# K
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it0 }4 Y# L& q# U( W1 t& t
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.6 c, @- @' g" j5 R8 P
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
