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% w: }! \. ^# q# F% O
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ y0 }- B1 R1 y% gon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,. y, y* _! s& b
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
3 N r- S' \2 R& U+ zanswers to our pointed questions.& l. W+ c9 ?3 u
( c# a! O }% i" nThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 J X# _+ G& K% I' b, U
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
0 j- s) w5 _3 n; |, v* E9 q9 L6 qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is, z& t" s [* g1 L
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 \( z; N4 v* E J/ ?
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
' S% C& q1 D: c* wmedical schools., e, u% ]- ^9 e6 q
2 B& U' {9 B8 l6 m' u* _: AEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
" U8 n; m4 Z2 G4 E9 q1 y- Igovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants7 n( w2 {9 \# |- _6 j
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years' R/ d0 q. A, Z& o! i# g N' D |
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& S" |8 e& | A! fis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
, F+ l% j3 y0 I9 ?: pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! `) R' q+ \4 r+ r) H- \8 V5 J9 ~) ?
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and$ L2 n8 @. L* v8 R% |
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
" M, M( Y6 e2 e' Y' c1 J- h# G5 k6 ishortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ d% K# u5 b; W2 _8 ], R. N$ \sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.4 p( }; j6 Q" D4 [8 O0 s
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
* t8 L. v# G0 }private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
0 C9 f. ?6 x, Ssupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
9 |8 @, t- V7 x& t$ o. H, h. Nhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ @+ K2 i5 ~% Z4 x: Q: Z3 L# ]
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
; o1 ]6 V, m: G8 p( v" @* Esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
! s- @6 a6 r C; ]* S" o0 hdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.( ]/ \ n1 f% t+ l# C
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When+ q- s9 O" s$ A% d, E% p6 B
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only S/ f7 m* Z+ H- E5 p9 j# y/ F# ]
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get5 Q' {- M0 c$ K- m* x" q8 ^
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type S4 K. C& u# v7 H, Q/ v% ~
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big' \3 w" V- \: p8 E2 f
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel' v% I, V: J' ~/ }* Q: n: Y5 V2 q
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the0 X9 I6 n' ^# F0 U U* E- q8 L" Z2 s( b
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 e; p. U2 a; M# i4 g
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 E3 o* o7 _2 Z! R: \# T, f8 s
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
, U( a7 `" L! b: ?6 Ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* r) k3 \: m' ]( Qhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 F# v- d3 l1 |- G1 Opeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' w; b7 H/ a' d# e3 Y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
! _$ d. N( i7 Y! U" f# c) v: fbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there C3 i/ X I% u
are spaces. {- t3 L; n; Q, o7 h- B: U+ v
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 }. R F0 M# L4 R
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they7 o- n* ~: J! X1 ]0 ?
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" Z- k8 i5 `! ]# k2 h6 t' J+ {2 @
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
6 N" K b, y' r& I2 E9 Fparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
: G L# m: b8 Wbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few* Z1 m& o; v8 \8 `
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
! j' X8 W" S( N# S! N0 kcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
% d6 w7 B/ i$ j4 B9 [is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.; V* }( [4 g( \
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
