我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living2 N5 }" v$ z/ L$ v1 Q
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 u6 U9 Y" l( X5 a |. b* \' B' {5 Q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
; h$ o9 O- n7 z3 E! m# ]2 x"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% C8 F8 v4 K) E( y
answers to our pointed questions.
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2 z* R: k* C7 o7 vThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 K7 B9 R& K P ^+ a# n45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand/ J& W; e6 U4 _) W6 b1 Q
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is" s8 ^9 e) W% J! P7 ~, l$ T* p
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ ]' T! B' s" F, o
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: j; n4 a$ E; h8 Qmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
- |: @) E$ F6 z1 n9 W! a4 T; }government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! M- w6 z$ f- T; \
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
* f, {- J* ], z# ?/ rassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
3 F" T b1 X$ m- ^, L6 ]is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. X. D/ O4 x" l( f# o
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! F7 @4 H/ r: m! v6 O" }
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
/ ?# O7 c/ x6 K9 e1 H- `mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
m- `" o: B) h- h4 Dshortage which the government is addressing by converting some& r+ ~0 |$ H- X2 T0 U/ U9 D, t( d' s
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. e' ^) ~6 h2 ?+ m- D0 Y. Z! m* S
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
7 N/ G# ~. Y( i gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
9 H+ j+ j) m. m h- x0 n# z% Qsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people: Z/ R5 Q# f$ C; L9 F% M
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
" G& U+ f9 N* G( |( Z1 Sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 ~* [# b6 G& M. w& Z4 @9 Q: s- T+ K
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
8 l& i# j( r& I4 p- Ndivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.- x Z e9 k3 _& J6 K) A* W
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
% P# \( U3 m. P' z+ |7 aa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only2 ]$ c1 W7 y- H2 O' k! {( G
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, T% ?; U# j1 t6 f% q2 {: a; pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
3 @% U; m7 z1 W1 O+ c0 v, g8 d; Sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big6 N4 d2 S6 [3 b+ y
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel) O: r- J: `. X2 F1 O& M
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
# ]: D/ ^( j0 z R0 @working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
% j. w3 ^4 r. \( i, Aschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
r3 A& G$ x, ?8 Byou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
4 X& D. p$ [, G! Atrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch3 x# T: Y4 o; O( ]( S- \: ]
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that s b/ G/ N) ]. p8 C# L9 W
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want7 b% D& Z; w. o
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 |6 Z+ L/ k' p5 X1 u* ]
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
D9 L) ]! X8 d. C. a) `* |4 oare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 Y, S; ]; r8 `$ [
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they' E5 X* M* d' X1 K/ [
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the% L" g7 e* f b* g$ E( {1 Z3 V1 C X9 j
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
; n1 q& o# w, q3 B& E. a* }parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
. I7 L$ @; ?) Vbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
. f7 N, @8 n2 S' w4 w3 X5 R+ znice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
& n' X+ N8 X+ d; H L) K/ i, fcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
- ^2 v! n7 M: w8 p' O+ Dis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& @% F3 w' J0 i: t. L: Z( q
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
