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- ]* K X1 ]" ]' r$ t6 w
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, a- x! U( ^( K3 C5 q) }, Pon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,( U; g/ v. I& Q8 v5 m* \+ _
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give f' Q& ^$ D/ r9 d1 n
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ f7 L, S. c2 c) n7 c! b45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 N1 f; P6 U X" w* n/ V; g
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
6 O' J$ o" R* y8 o8 z a& e& ffree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
9 z8 K5 ~& a3 S" ~; K6 Uto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& }) P6 Y5 b7 @ u& t
medical schools.1 Y* U! A; @) f, U* r# k
4 Y8 {! U+ O x- W" b8 N* ]. AEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 G! v1 I0 q" z
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ D/ B$ i0 w. y/ d2 vto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years6 b" G& L. X% I. r2 U5 h& z
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba% A) a6 Z- |9 x8 E) i0 Z! ~
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
N, v8 W: K; M) C8 }. fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
' b9 V4 H u8 e% C e' sseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, K* A! A# F2 r2 c8 ]" f% g' i
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
9 y1 o7 S* f5 S( Z7 ~shortage which the government is addressing by converting some/ y) V6 t5 v) R& }
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 I% o# T2 x. ?; {
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
- K! o- w% ?6 T" t2 {! [private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ j$ t- `; I; y# r' tsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people4 m8 e. z( d3 J* v
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
2 N. s" k; T+ j8 x% W/ K# B( [, Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby" e `0 f5 G6 d) R
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, s/ a3 U" C. c5 D6 J% Y5 k" ~divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
# A7 u( _/ |1 j- a! i5 v0 ~5 WDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
- o1 Y0 s0 R( I1 a3 d E6 ca lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only6 X9 [) U; ]/ _
charge the fee defined by the state.
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9 H. B; t. R9 \0 q! cThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
0 `9 x. P4 x2 P" won), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ f" n9 w2 `: n! a2 W( ^) ~* @& O3 hof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
3 A2 v; i; n* i: N3 d& Jtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
' e. L% l$ o1 z' h0 j" Z. D( J. Fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the. I# O7 v# e1 I4 W( r; [
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
; ^7 k, S7 m# N8 \schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if1 n4 s$ n# H. m
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
& b! p( ^2 v, T4 S" C" Gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch$ ~+ E' P: R5 G5 T
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
2 R. `; O+ N& P+ hpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want3 Y" I& O r* I3 p% r
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
$ }* G/ b; @# O5 M* sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there$ Z- V3 h W t8 x6 N( Y
are spaces.( d6 `( a5 U' s! f: r+ Z. w
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 J3 m: n# q% e+ F
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( u/ B D6 K0 e9 x( town a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
3 J5 C" o# }# Z9 K0 D1 J40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
! g; j7 z( p" Yparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) ?. e! d5 T+ i% K% j
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
7 l I+ u4 q& onice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 O. o" \4 [5 x# Y1 P+ L6 Y9 ^
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 c# P3 e6 s* X. pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 q: g$ ^/ k" K* {3 m! ] We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
