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
$ u# C4 M: |/ c) D3 a& Zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
# u9 ~5 j1 I' R. H! n6 Kon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
|0 c. U5 V5 N* V0 R( @"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ p& S$ @, r% S/ {( F. |
answers to our pointed questions.3 ]9 b3 h: }/ `
7 p3 K8 Q/ ~ O7 F# M8 U
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
7 X: A% O4 O# q/ R8 {4 }: v9 p5 X45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
0 Z) Z; t/ J1 \out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
L; A) J* L# @& y# J; _( v% Ufree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
) B: ]2 T0 b% v: P* P. M/ vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are4 U! Q+ s5 k5 ?8 G
medical schools.
* m0 V+ t# G7 N) i$ w' P$ e4 U1 ^ B3 n! E+ `1 }; r
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
& j! W+ ^" J7 y$ U1 `+ D- cgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 v6 i1 y1 [/ S }6 r2 b
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
( ]& M9 _1 S/ S. e( q1 `! u& Cassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: V& H; t! _* f6 |, T) Z& L
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to2 }8 X; o7 G5 E& k1 ?+ g# A9 ^; _! }. o
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There) b9 |1 i. x$ A
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
+ J* n0 d: S/ }/ c zmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- {$ @5 h1 n, O1 r. B3 E6 f; g
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some+ F0 t1 v; |0 R8 {' u9 c( p/ x, A8 t
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
4 V$ Z b1 E! X9 `5 E4 s8 N+ p( d: C( R% R$ V+ e- I) |
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 _ H" J8 c/ b0 K
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; t6 u* m4 f( Rsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people& c% ^* \% A; R+ c6 u
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good( J/ z- q( o% o' ?
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby. E% x' A9 G- i6 F% ?/ f/ I
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. P; l/ f# h- J+ k5 D y' l
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
' ]. H: c2 v( XDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
3 R% v* Q. u- ]' pa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
$ l( M/ r# H9 a" j7 zcharge the fee defined by the state.2 H9 x' D; U8 j( d* ?+ t
& S* B$ l: C. N+ e2 R, c+ CThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
( ^/ L4 @6 d8 c$ L8 V+ ?+ u' `on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
" ]. ~' k6 S: \( u. s3 Dof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 Z$ ^. @6 C( }, b/ \: o
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
+ ~. @3 U6 j$ k* e( fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
2 G1 b+ }3 E, w2 Q" _working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on5 ~6 `( q0 Y4 [ ~
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
- J/ C, n! X( g$ k( C; e) eyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people2 O+ T- W) H: b& t. R
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch0 |6 T, `& m% @) S9 a5 M
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
9 v( v' N- Q2 E' U' @- G3 ^2 H, mpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% v/ R8 X" T2 }" A+ j5 vto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
: W/ ^/ k- Z/ M8 e2 A+ w. d, kbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! D* \/ m9 b. Z: j' M* o4 L. n( Y r
are spaces. S6 I, p. G% W
7 ` P: a- y# b7 V0 u* }There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( H" o: ?: j9 v# o& V" A
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they5 }; ?1 u) \/ I
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 b8 T6 j- K. g6 s' K* J+ g40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different. M* _7 L) u% P% `% t/ O
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the$ \0 a3 @9 L. W
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few1 V. o# S* C/ o* Y5 ?& r. _0 T
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
3 M7 V2 B1 \0 S. t' n0 ^car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 o4 a7 u( d `0 Ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned./ Z* Z1 y* K! T2 l% U
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
