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
7 C) S( [9 y% G. m+ j& g; l. |standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
3 R& o7 P; y2 V# Q! L- }on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
) R+ x7 G: Z8 S7 K6 ^"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: L9 S% t2 Q7 g' j. [2 Ianswers to our pointed questions.6 B2 z+ e" O2 y
/ Z* Z+ T! L8 y: |# l& V( r* DThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
% L3 w D# e+ X! F1 P45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand h3 [, j8 a/ a! u- I/ g5 u$ y
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 b4 M3 G8 @: R8 l
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
% `* e r& G% s9 _: @9 y( O5 nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are% G6 w6 o, U6 V+ d* i2 ^7 I3 _
medical schools.
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* _& w9 D7 I6 Z# o5 dEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
1 Q$ T* F3 ?/ S" igovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 v$ e- j5 d9 E# S* u6 q/ O# c; x- w
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' c9 e+ r* S9 \assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ c P% r2 e5 s0 x) U
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
: a% L6 m$ p) V* z1 w1 S; }0 E. nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There& u. s' m# m; B, G) A
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
+ B/ A; I& R$ p$ }mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& g+ y1 M# ]8 j5 q( t" fshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
# j* T3 R; g1 Csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., P/ \% m6 Z% K2 q5 a
% a) H9 p! d" l$ {8 x: }5 U. ~
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
" [) B+ v, G( }) @. @private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* X% X8 \7 M5 { ssupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, }9 w6 z( h4 o1 f6 W9 S- Hhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
1 p5 b: l5 o lthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 u, V- g9 j4 n( P
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
% r2 Y. p! R; w7 ?7 c$ O+ Ddivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years., X) D2 D0 j m+ Z. ]
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When _( g' e6 S" B+ O2 k5 Q# W
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only5 K8 M g/ Q" g8 O! q
charge the fee defined by the state.
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' J* D3 y8 U. o+ G! |There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get9 u. t9 t8 g/ `* k
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- Y5 T% C1 _; J- y* N
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big) |5 ^" ]" U( e
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
0 p, h9 _/ L0 N& b# e9 [seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
5 s& J$ v9 l. Q9 {& Z* \working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on- w; \ Q1 _5 W% [2 d/ [: u3 D
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if1 o+ Q3 y( T% Z4 j; V5 K
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people4 u4 y2 V. G* h4 m7 ?! X; S6 B
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 U% F: }/ S. b% S r+ A
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
& m4 H I' s1 y6 Y- Upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 H" j' s& v' q2 s: X$ t
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
- \( \3 _0 t) s3 D5 }buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
3 ^, m; ^( J9 S9 J; Pare spaces.
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- F% l& k4 D7 g$ M& V3 J( n6 UThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ K# |4 {) m6 H' |( j
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
9 }/ P- K3 t1 r5 R% Z% u4 Qown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
: L$ \; s- g: f% [40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ C" g4 i1 {4 O0 V
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the* k e3 z# M( `( m0 G1 Y0 k3 K" Z2 r
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 {3 q A ?/ L/ Nnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of& C9 M7 y2 O9 l9 Q1 c2 u* i
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
! t) X% d; u6 z" i" U; K- j# Uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ q+ g8 C, |* e$ E% d We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
