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" q/ L+ a. X3 K! i, S6 I U3 y/ l* t
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went* {7 F4 m! g: Y: K4 N1 m/ b3 t
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ M: f: g) d! n
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) J" Z$ D% e6 m. G# Q' x
answers to our pointed questions.* _6 ^$ J1 r3 s7 R2 e
; }" k4 v+ P* zThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
3 A( g& i: |8 Y4 g1 e45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand& ` w6 \2 l4 H0 r7 S, r' i
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 P% B% z* K" j" n" G6 h
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
3 W% M5 c) d1 A: ]/ q% e# Fto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
' C. c1 P% [ I& j1 d9 `) O$ Qmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the. F- _: J, p6 b% f2 Q& q
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
% z9 Z: o1 H6 S& ?to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years @3 \. s8 ^* S
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
6 u1 m) H3 n% A" |- n# p; ~is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to5 I( W! V7 Z8 A; n8 H9 A& O, p/ k
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
8 P: s1 V7 i+ j3 a7 P6 Xseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and% t7 b$ Y: U& O3 [4 b, A* o& ^: l
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
) F8 ^ `! ^: O( o$ yshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
. Z3 {. S2 L% P3 ]4 }0 Qsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no/ g8 k; k( D" M
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* I) R1 Y/ U% a* T8 G' u
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people% n9 K( H9 @ `2 o# E( t# r* ^( n
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
6 b9 v% P+ Z* k& h9 m" Pthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby" G, A, n6 M1 w
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
3 K" r2 u8 E5 o8 v3 i. \6 qdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.; k3 D4 S, O0 l# ~& B$ f+ X3 r; o ~
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When1 e7 B6 n* h: D4 y
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only9 ^2 D+ X( j( u; @
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: B# r1 i; |% c2 {on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type) T# w& c# ~* v9 _
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! J, V0 q3 F, x# D0 n4 S2 Otruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel% s/ P9 _ S+ {7 g: a
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
; V }( J) ~4 c/ l jworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
9 B. v3 {9 u4 A; z2 M8 e4 pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
$ P" y3 t4 Z' M/ r3 G7 g' qyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
( S* h( @9 o' L ^trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch7 ^7 N+ u3 e9 N* V+ h# z6 n
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that L# H2 c6 n" I: Q! ^
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want- `) z& a& y. D: }1 v
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" C8 M2 t2 D0 K: B/ X# [
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% B# p( E; E) I v: q( d; K: Y7 P
are spaces.5 p7 u0 C% z3 e1 z+ l8 Z. Z0 K
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 n" o. M' T/ d0 d
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
- D# e+ I1 B2 Qown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
4 s) g& a( x6 k40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different- k8 H: `' B: e( g1 O) j3 o) O( ]
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
* i- P/ p- i5 s6 b ^5 ]. y$ P( Wbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" A9 r' a* l7 z. s D) ?! v9 \nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 O. T2 U0 R8 w' ~9 l6 @) M
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: B* @! i* Q! Y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: y ~$ C2 B* X
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
