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 I* C {3 z; N% U0 ~1 U- j6 Y' Q
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went# W; n$ ^+ ?6 q$ @/ s( A
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,% {0 f3 f+ V' i: u7 r
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give; u# k1 O# X# z3 g5 L
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,5 \9 y$ m' e3 N6 T o R
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
4 ^) Y |: P9 U/ M7 g5 {8 u5 { C- T, vout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
8 ~6 Q- i9 }( V/ f b% afree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams+ c/ B" u! o) g! H+ f
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are% S( i. b% J8 K6 I) c9 B4 h/ N2 f: P4 X
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
7 e j. o9 z I; G! ~; \2 Dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 } d+ i, ^) f) v
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; \0 V2 _' m1 e6 yassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 p0 V5 A8 i& c5 x( N; V
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
! t. O4 b; e6 L- g, z6 h6 \. Oover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
" R. l- x, {# m# Q# Zseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 k9 {4 ~( r# W' N0 x( }# W/ s! `mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& ]" w" s1 B$ `% @0 w+ gshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
' y( a' K( _/ hsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# z1 P6 M6 }) `" \4 m" W l
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# e$ G; U# \, B; z i- g8 F# z7 n
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and y1 v2 Q8 W; z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people/ v4 |; K# V/ R+ v
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
, }! I* [( j9 b }( pthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ Q7 K) Y* {. O( h" ~sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
' {$ b8 _/ j' g$ W2 Q' L2 Idivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% F7 Q9 `7 g' `8 W2 @1 B# E
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When+ \' Y* k$ ~3 X8 G7 B
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
) J$ i/ @; B! ] \9 icharge the fee defined by the state.: ]. r. M, B$ z+ F s# B
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
. L. t7 W: f. j/ jon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 `* [2 z# s, Kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big0 M7 m3 @4 y7 m0 Z
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
/ y D2 D5 w* Z/ f0 L% E# useems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
( k# i; e" U9 c6 y8 h1 `working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on) ~. h5 I2 Y1 {+ Z: l% ^
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
q! A5 z: k) H* `7 wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people& I. o' K4 M6 W8 e9 E
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! v' h; N4 F) n& P% thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
_5 |9 ]8 W6 lpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 D- M' z% R# a- \! L7 ]
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' w* m4 U6 b9 h! U+ b5 n0 m
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there) w: `- a7 L# d) p( O
are spaces.
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! O/ P6 x; K1 T) zThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
0 R0 b. _) c! |. S3 i5 u& Fto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( x6 r! z) N4 _) F: |own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
1 U# P% W1 f% s40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
* d/ ~% d7 |1 z! J6 Oparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
; Z* b l3 _5 W' A6 M( _best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
+ @) N( g% G d5 v) S& e% ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of) A6 F' u2 j# q! r; e& t! w
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it6 |2 o. M4 _+ Q( _ _1 B$ \' V
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.6 c! S. v. |3 `# K) j7 `" f) f
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
