我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living0 j2 ~8 _: }& X/ \0 E3 I
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went/ k( R8 \5 F8 _
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 v- o& K# A7 N4 ~* r; K5 _
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
4 r% R( P2 y$ L" ranswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
5 f# j6 l7 @, q5 V5 ]8 t( r8 B45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand3 w+ f- x0 B( r1 g3 k1 S7 }
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
( ^7 s8 [) n/ @7 M% E3 H$ {free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams# [. l; D1 ?* I* q1 P+ E
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 t" t3 w5 K' |6 f9 u4 n
medical schools.3 z B. J! c6 {5 o/ p2 d
8 I4 f, s6 C; u6 f8 W8 hEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the0 V% M3 ~' m3 C& g7 b) {' W
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
' R- E% c; k7 s0 `; b, Yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
8 v$ M# {1 z& ^; S/ uassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba+ U* H. ?: G" d
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to, L! O8 R7 C$ d% c2 v9 w+ ?* ?8 B
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There/ v" `* Y7 v5 ]
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 h. c z7 H$ p0 }- k: o$ L
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk& `* o, z" M# b0 s4 ?# z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
* I- c3 @. M4 O* u1 [* Jsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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5 u' v' z* v( ]3 R0 jThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( w8 ` \! p! X6 u& vprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
7 [& a( j2 C# y B y1 B$ esupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
6 ] v" R* _6 k- W( r" Z4 f4 [- S# thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 A( S( ~2 B/ k" \2 ~
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
. l- f. Y7 O+ a% m0 ?sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& p( R# }: b! W# A0 ?divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.0 I# r; z# i/ I9 l# H
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When6 }0 F& n0 |! l* f& T4 [
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) _! R$ j3 O" l/ i3 a
charge the fee defined by the state.
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/ o+ F, A6 y, K) r0 A; xThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get5 B) n, q5 s1 H
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type0 R* p6 ?) y/ G: w% h) D
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; B, v% q- g1 S# J, h' e" k
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel7 F& ~: S/ `$ @2 \, W& u9 {
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the+ `- ~/ C; {! u* M
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
5 | I% R1 s) w5 b4 `2 dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
! Z. p1 V: p+ {9 r j" u% byou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people! [1 q+ C, w% p( c% t5 |4 Y
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch: m: R: P* h2 Z2 V
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
/ x+ o8 Q, M# e- [people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" [ X! F0 Z% l) \) pto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
6 V/ t7 k4 M3 r! dbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 d$ x, r* a7 H3 s @7 y
are spaces.) H! M; I3 {& Q) e; t( Y- J
" D9 z! f/ J7 Q! n9 o! Z& oThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi- b2 Y3 ~$ x" B7 [
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they! P) V/ z# e- v- q5 W
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the2 Y& a. J. b. Y5 G. Y
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
6 J; I8 K. t& J* U% Mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the' H# [9 |, W% ]; _
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ r- C" p* S- x2 r& J5 p
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
4 N S& _, v' {( _; j3 A& ~" icar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it6 @- U( U/ }8 q# r* @5 ^
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
2 v( W% [, i0 ]8 a/ a. ? We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
