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
% l: i% ^2 u! d/ L6 Y" K* Ystandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 R( I' q2 L* d4 Q* b' x
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,, c r2 d ~3 O4 z8 j' B# |
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
7 I. B. K8 E+ z. U8 Tanswers to our pointed questions.2 o' M+ X" r4 L% j
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
5 V- A8 F; j& d5 }& v45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand) K. S5 a! S& ~( r# g; ]
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
4 D2 u" n: ?4 Q1 n% ~- B5 w1 ~free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams- N% a4 w( ?9 l+ [1 s( `+ g, h
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" U+ q! {7 X6 n# N I8 ~4 k% m8 U( O/ y/ hmedical schools. y& _$ O4 _- V" T A$ M) E) B
3 M$ {6 p; i6 r+ ?; V3 }8 WEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
# m) D# [$ w: x, f2 Q, a Dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
% k& K/ _" O1 P3 D8 d3 U( Pto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
9 q3 p# Y. N+ F7 d3 w1 C) ~assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba/ h5 i ?: s8 b& D1 u! i) k H% X
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to7 ^! Q5 Q y4 ~, M6 w3 h! H/ ^
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There$ K8 @) N2 g& |" }! t
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
+ j$ @) n7 D5 d# c* hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk$ j6 m" W% K) w9 g4 f; o1 @
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some$ C2 y, J" V& I) j& {& ^' W! X* d
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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% _6 t5 C- c. J7 J1 d8 d0 [The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no! ?, {( U2 Z9 D. P p: J& X
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 Y5 Y- U. O# H9 n9 R7 D6 V
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
2 J2 ]# x# \1 d" dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ N, l! q Z6 A2 I; |- [thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
) g/ V$ w( B8 r. r/ ^sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
' E" _ i- t P8 [% D7 v- xdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
: M( x% t& t) zDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; Y) i6 i2 _% |
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
5 `# H& a; Q6 _* j- Pcharge the fee defined by the state.
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3 O, [0 K5 b! p8 l8 CThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
- S% o& L$ w, X; Ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
: ]0 ^. O* B0 T2 l0 v% tof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
7 r, b! B$ n% c4 D( j5 r( [truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel3 u8 i" [4 w1 L# _+ p
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the5 d4 M; e) }3 Q
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on* `9 O+ h s9 _
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if1 {* r" G$ d m( f3 a: j, `; a G; y
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people9 E2 p. c( R" s5 |4 b# J
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
+ s. |+ S7 C) d" i" H: e2 [hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% E4 B7 G) S+ J6 X Kpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want0 w8 _/ U2 q6 w: k
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ P, P8 U' B& O2 V; G# x* e4 o
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there7 w( I& I/ q) n: |! o2 x7 o
are spaces.% ^3 ^6 T5 I6 h, y+ d5 E. t& A
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( [0 D. X: x1 U$ p+ z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( S( D, V& `/ z! u4 g- [own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
! R: g% x: F9 _* y3 k8 C1 R40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different( `5 j: v4 \8 d1 f
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
/ l0 c8 d: Z+ G3 L/ D5 _best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
' p6 B4 j a3 l3 Knice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ J) A$ M! _7 G9 W
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
- ]4 { P8 B6 c) ?is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.$ A1 u+ a& m" r. V
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
