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) [& j$ G) e' S# ?
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
! u) V) O" a5 v1 U0 lon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
D1 }; _, m" |"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* S. v9 @( G( ~" P" l! l
answers to our pointed questions.
9 P/ i; \- r2 B' \4 W
$ l: q. N0 B3 R. GThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
" l( |' g% T1 ]45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand/ ^- z7 [, u% G* q) e
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is( z- U2 T0 q+ ]. {3 x5 y% @7 I
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
( z4 b1 `, ?8 k* Z+ G' ^ pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ X g. j* c5 q* k& u( `5 Omedical schools.8 Q% y' [- k# K1 n4 Z8 f
& A4 n7 R& v2 B I( a3 r
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
( q( ^. o2 ]( I6 E/ q, Mgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; D2 `4 H( G" e/ x2 R' xto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years; V: q; H( D, h
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 u/ C4 B! B! f( K+ b2 r2 c- z8 g
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to, K, v k0 R1 ?% ~" C
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There: h2 G8 g) c+ T
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and0 k6 C; w) Y7 l9 X$ ^1 \& V
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
, k8 ]- s1 P; u; K0 E; d. X" {shortage which the government is addressing by converting some( M) _0 M9 H8 V+ a! h
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
9 C( b/ P( a( o7 g$ V R3 H$ S" d! L: D: p8 D/ ]6 _
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no2 Z8 n( ^9 X3 Q8 \8 w+ H6 @. Q8 m% r
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 b/ q3 f5 r7 [4 X T! R
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' T- f" B) N. `6 Z5 L9 n* t
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ d5 c2 R% E) y6 Bthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
$ T. E. y- b" h; x- _5 esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high$ j6 H1 c3 u% }! m+ K3 |. G
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
7 J/ G- e, D! S) SDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 h* Z+ m0 q0 k; ]3 F- M
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
! ?$ j( d4 z8 `9 A% e8 @. Wcharge the fee defined by the state.
% m0 m' X0 ^# `1 Y
4 r4 c" }7 `- z0 `+ a$ T% ^There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get Q7 Z( q4 W9 F# H1 @* q! }
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- x- L3 W0 V( P0 A8 }
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
# k& d% \' m0 n/ R! ? }# X' g. Utruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel K, C* E6 |* H2 h( R; t- \
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 x* E1 u8 Q6 t, T& H* ~ I
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
m: V Y- B2 M D P7 cschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* D2 _+ u) h4 a8 w1 l; r* Eyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
7 {8 x( H7 x& n3 A" t# `- `trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch4 W7 \" i& \( E) P! N* ~# K: q8 g
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 ~* B" q+ j$ H( r9 s6 V
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 U; C; ~& E5 I# A& ]) m
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
! ^+ w& z: ]. M7 P) Sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: Y+ S% t& b- E. bare spaces.- ~/ z- L0 K( V
5 R+ h! f, C& s* r/ `
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( \* B, U9 `& S9 @4 h5 M# ] @
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
0 k- t' |! d+ U. mown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
8 o/ r! l" M: ^0 x; U40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 M/ k8 ?! y! f/ f0 L8 C6 i3 P2 K0 M( J
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
$ {! h! A5 f! t7 w+ W/ Kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! {+ b; w* p- k5 U
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
1 m& P2 X6 g' u5 Pcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' p* e6 h# v% ~1 _# H
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
* h( [ d2 N$ _: Y" V We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
