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 S! p; K0 {, Y+ e8 @. v
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went3 j2 n0 V2 g: T2 X3 \; g1 h6 Q9 e
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
9 F* w) T" u+ P"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* L4 @: X8 J% b
answers to our pointed questions.# U* m7 D! |6 C
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
, n/ D$ z! o6 m) P. @- n45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
D' l. A- Z0 Y h( yout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
6 I' U2 ~( ]/ Q% e8 o( {free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
# R+ @& J0 m0 i0 E4 N8 R' Qto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& }! h9 s( G" ^( W; q2 ~6 }
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: E' h5 x6 {" G% X+ |6 Bgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants( _! ^9 f+ i) y
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 @6 |) w6 _. J( y
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
9 b; F9 k& d8 _is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
7 [( u0 b. y! Jover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There& _4 x# a2 K# w7 @4 C+ Y0 `0 b
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and" u* C' T' `2 O V
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
: G/ S8 D0 V7 T) W c* s) oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
; f6 ~# \' x+ v2 j: C9 @0 \7 A9 csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. y( w& G: v7 ^4 d6 K7 _# w5 U
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no B+ Y3 q# H A" L
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
! @$ u: Z! x/ f$ J" X6 @supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ c( ]8 E4 ^: R5 f# B# v
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) P; Q. m! c1 d
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby9 R4 ^" {: @) s3 m9 D0 p
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
" o# g6 `0 W2 C3 b' Z; a8 B' u" qdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years., n. ^" K& }. X* W8 @2 R
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
# s5 f% p2 t# b3 Ja lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only/ c, f, T) L- `" I
charge the fee defined by the state.: E7 ?' B l( L3 D9 |
2 H2 X. p- B7 e- k) e: @$ SThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
- M& w; [+ q: `6 K+ g# Qon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 X' X* O2 M+ k& o Nof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
2 ^" u( T! w% ]: u8 j- @! q$ Mtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
8 k. ^) {; U8 U% Fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" u T7 h7 l& @, ?& O: |/ @working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
# R8 \0 Z8 `1 f2 ?schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
5 P5 `6 j7 Y, d$ V( X/ {you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ m* p: B* r& e+ o" ^7 \% W! @/ Itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 T. ^* }8 s4 M/ Z: Xhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
6 t$ s6 l3 A) |# r% i) n/ R6 B# `people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
# G5 }. p6 F* D" P. I% v& d( Y3 a, Tto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' S9 w, j! o2 _# Y# P8 H% i& u) J$ i
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
# E' Z" [/ S' ^& \. }/ bare spaces.1 m+ p- O. ?) z2 i5 |4 B- j, U
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
4 Q) j4 z' d, x# \( f5 _) @0 Eto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
! {( k K. @' S% [own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
% w: e7 I- \* g! r40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different x2 F+ } k- ^% f, g
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 p+ m* K1 J, Q5 ?) O, I- C' S( Pbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; a V, V: T! s F' K
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ @# Q- B' j) X! j J# t
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it2 ]/ x4 x* O$ r, m# x- n9 O0 d
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 \8 W* ^$ V+ N We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
