我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living4 o- ]: w& b6 b* C/ v
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
T( r" u' G/ ], |, K1 T$ n5 O3 qon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," q% v; N7 `2 P0 B% H* K& d
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& g t, Z: ?$ r! W" W8 O: J
answers to our pointed questions. Q2 i/ F6 {. r3 F* y, K
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 {* y8 v1 O- i8 e45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
/ }1 F |- o# C( f" E1 @1 Iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 o* l G0 H" w- m% @ H; F
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 L9 Z3 r" ^: J9 M7 _* p/ H
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# }8 U' v9 r& c1 C. W
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" i1 H/ F+ I* n. x/ q* P
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
! W6 S* R; K3 s9 Z# ^. nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; E) d/ \) v) E, }9 I6 h, b4 o& _5 bassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
' r/ P) s( D% } H; t/ r4 lis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to: n0 r$ V! V& k; o+ ~
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There3 y3 \! [1 W! S: q" K4 y# Q9 B
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, b, U! p. Z" y: X3 R+ [7 _
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
2 i7 |9 c& u* L6 yshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
6 Y$ F: g" e ]sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.: ~; o/ y% `" D8 H! g
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
* Z- T8 P2 e% }8 n6 I9 R5 D* X3 x1 U% Zprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
+ K, K! k: _6 P2 |. }5 j) T$ _# `supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
# a+ W: ?0 V# n5 V* m8 i% c; jhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
0 e3 k6 v$ ^# P; d: F5 h" |thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 _* ~" P7 F- w# I4 S% f, }sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
# L- v& l L2 P( |divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
& Z7 s+ J' E) K6 ~! [3 o7 YDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 h/ C0 T" m2 G0 }; [a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 X( w' }* U" Y" n
charge the fee defined by the state.2 U9 B* q1 X4 b$ {, Z+ I9 y1 _
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get2 v; b* ~& A. \' h" |6 d- c, M
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type E3 y( i( `8 _% Y" V: x3 b
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big% _, i1 v* c4 Q- c! h' `
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: P% p+ c* t/ @seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
7 I& C$ q2 N% Tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on* k6 `+ u4 z/ b) V8 k
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
, J3 I- K: }4 G: |8 I: J7 ^you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
3 j8 F" ?! q9 j5 Xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch7 d0 }- b! o T
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
( t& Z! ?7 @2 `' T# Opeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want; y/ \) S" Z8 ^2 h$ c
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
/ Y4 J8 Q; V- r. x- Ybuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, b+ L7 B# Q' I4 t) J
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 U1 p1 z$ b% Z1 U1 m. b
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 K& V7 z3 x/ j& W6 O
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) G" H/ ]: ~9 R4 q: F6 a
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
& S0 \/ G- R3 ~# A& fparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
" U/ M( Q4 R! `best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' Y3 k- c" [; C
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
_ \7 F/ N/ h! o ~/ Q" a6 gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it2 g$ C2 N0 B8 G9 x
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.1 j4 s3 w1 {, M9 q: x) u
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
