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
' o' t/ @* o+ F" Y( u' e3 ]standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went, l: c% u1 h, n* e' C8 |
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 y1 n7 w8 d; f; M9 N! _* L0 {) L% S"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
8 X& M' e7 k+ k0 y4 g! P# z, h, Yanswers to our pointed questions., k( v ?* _: j% N
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 t2 k& Y+ Z9 @2 {% |$ j& ?+ f H/ \! p45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 T$ G# C/ R: y4 u6 E" z1 E
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
4 R( v* g4 C& [2 j" \, }0 Qfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
& C$ ~4 C9 s# S& \to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
# A9 X- b7 f* Y* d3 ]medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the* J0 p5 r; g- @2 ~( ` i3 O& d" q
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; m: B1 i8 _* f' n9 t L8 C# Zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
6 z6 z- R$ k0 Iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
( G" O& m0 e% K5 xis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
) z; Y3 I' C( _% A- P, b% g! G& Iover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
8 z$ E& O$ y/ w2 R6 L* E# Z3 Gseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 ^6 [$ V$ p9 b. u& b
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
4 X, e+ y. a; |shortage which the government is addressing by converting some* q! |2 L+ Y/ m1 u1 p0 a5 B( J0 H( q
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.8 q. {' K$ ]. P: {: L/ G
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" n& G) f9 j9 B
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
/ S6 p/ t+ T3 Y) Q6 E. ?5 k3 {supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
2 l) a- t: S8 p( H9 [( G) vhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
! J% n4 N! O3 v, F+ Uthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
/ o \0 A2 C0 s1 Dsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; Q5 O6 Z/ f4 w* b5 [! \
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
1 B) }; U- V- k0 q% s/ vDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 _, C7 P# w6 ~& J+ B
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 v" p1 K' S- t
charge the fee defined by the state.- u8 d2 H- @9 b2 E) ~
& r( H' w8 ^3 f: x& N4 M/ b& V5 V* FThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 A. S7 p5 C! @
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
3 O) Z% [% N; c! z. o1 K7 Iof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ K7 ^, |+ \9 k/ ~( [
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: y: _0 L* T/ o9 A/ W7 cseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
1 f" M* I- b8 l7 e! iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
0 _& v7 f: m, N; n4 Ischedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
) y9 R- ]( |3 m9 I0 c0 H+ zyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
' {5 W8 D6 u# F7 V N6 i+ Ltrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch+ r+ @" d0 c- c" t6 N# l
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' @9 y8 M: ]4 r. Z( G
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
6 n: T/ A9 S# c$ eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
4 M# j# O* K' U8 L+ z+ Bbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* L: r" |0 d/ p$ Z H
are spaces.
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% @# V, Z' e4 e' e& gThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
6 x8 c0 E2 ?. Eto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 q! ~5 T Q1 I5 j
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
( N& l! M. K% q' B2 w% S40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& \' Z- B( r9 ^
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the* G7 ]4 x. F3 v- G: O" Q( D
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
6 k T* o' H- tnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of8 N" H$ p" ]# T6 A! {0 m4 P( p
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
8 L* a8 @0 f A' x8 _9 uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
: T. W& A2 g* S/ [$ L We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
