| Conditions: Food and Agriculture食物和农业 |
|
the following section reflects impressions mixed with occasional facts gained in several weeks of traveling by bike -- not systematic research. That said, what kind of conditions did we see in Cuba in 2000? We'll look at food, housing, medicine, and education.
下面的部分是我们对古巴的印象，掺杂着我们几周来骑自行车旅行时所看到的一些事实——不是系统的调查。2000年，我们在古巴将看到哪些情况呢？我们将观察食物、住房、医疗和教育。
|
 |
|
 With the end of Soviet aid and the collapse of the economy in the early 90's, food became scarce, and many Cubans went hungry. Things are somewhat better now. As far as we could see, malnutrition in 2000 was nonexistent, though Cubans without access to U.S. dollars still struggle.
随着90年代初期苏联缓助的结束和经济的崩溃，食物变得缺乏起来，许多古巴人忍饥埃饿。现在情况好一点了。就象我们看到的那样，2000年时的营养不良已经不复存在。
For tourists, food was not a problem, though meals tended to be monotonous. We also found food to be quite safe. Some kitchens looked dingy, but that was probably the result of a years of shortages of cleansers and paint. We always ate salads, raw fruit, and snacks from roadside vendors without significant health problems over two months.
对旅行者来说，食物不是问题，虽然有点单调。我们还发现食物非常安全。有些厨房看上去很邋遢，但那很可能是一年来清洁剂和油漆缺乏的结果。我们经常在路边的小摊上买色拉、水果和快餐吃，两个月来未发生过大的健康问题。
Water was a different matter. We were warned many times that water treatment in towns and cities was unreliable, and we met many Cubans who boil their drinking water or use water treatment tablets (when they can get them.) Barbara got quite sick, almost certainly from bad water, on our first trip in 1999. In 2000, therefore, we brought a water filter and used it regularly, and we bought a great deal of bottled water (and good beer!) as well.
水是另一个问题。我们受到多次警告，城镇里的供水是不安全的。我们碰到了许多烧开水的人。芭芭拉病得历害，几乎可以肯定是因为在我们于1999年第一次旅行时饮用了不卫生的水。因此，2000年，我们带了一只滤水器并一直使用。我们还买了大量的瓶装水（还有啤酒！）。
|
|
Without doubt, one eats better in private homes, casas particulares, than in moderately-priced hotels or restaurants. Your hosts use your U.S. dollars to buy extra food for you -- and for themselves -- in the free market. Meals are generally based on chicken, pork, or fish, served with congris -- beans and rice -- and various vegetables and salads. Our Cuban hosts invariably put a great deal of effort into making meals attractive and appetizing.在私人家里（民宿）无疑要比在中档宾馆或餐馆里吃得更好。主人会用你的美元在自由市场为你们——和他们自己——买些额外的食物来吃。食物通常是小鸡、猪肉或鱼，伴有豆类和大米作为主食——还有各种各样的蔬菜和色拉。我们的古巴主人总是把饭做得即吸引人又可口。
|
 |
 |
Still, there's an old joke in Cuba: The three great successes of the revolution have been medicine, education, and sport; the three great failures have been breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This is a huge feedlot outside Havana. It seemed to go on for miles. And it was completely abandoned. We don't know if this resulted from lack of inputs owing to the economic collapse of the 1990's -- or just bad planning.
古巴还有一个久已流传的笑话：革命取得的三个最大成功是医疗、教育和体育；三个最大失败是早餐、午餐和晚餐。这是哈瓦那效外的一个大饲育场。看上去有数英里长。已经完全荒废了。我们不知道这是否由于1990年经济崩溃导致的资金短缺，或者只是因为计划的糟糕。
|
|
Some people told us that large scale, collective agriculture in Cuba, as represented by the defunct feedlot, simply doesn't work well. What does seem to work, they said, is production by smallholders. Since 1994, peasant farmers have been allowed to sell part of their production in public markets for their own profit, and this has improved the availability of food considerably.有人告诉我们说在古巴，大规模的集体农业，以那荒废的饲育场为代表，效果并不好。他们说，小农生产看上去成绩不错。自从1994年，答应农民向公共市场出售部分出产获取利润，这显著地改善了食物的供给。
|
 |
 |
We saw intensively-cultivated gardens like this all over the country, especially outside the big, soviet-style apartment blocks that ring some of the cities.我们在全国各地看到了这样精心培植的花园，尤其是在城市外围大的苏式城区。
|
|
A lot of the produce from these gardens is rolled into the city centers on wheelbarrows or hauled in carts and sold in the streets for pesos, as here in Santiago de Cuba. Traveling by bike, we very often made meals of fruit and other foods that we bought from street vendors.这些花园里大部分产品都通过手推车或马车涌入城里的各个角落，换得比索。就象右图圣地亚哥中的一样。骑自行车旅行，我们经常在街道的小摊上买些水果或其它食物为餐。
|
 |
 |
We were taught the saying, "Sin sucre, no hay pais," without sugar, there is no country. We were in Cuba during the months of the sugar harvest. Much of the work was done with big machines -- but some of the cane was still harvested by hand, and the less mechanized approach was more photogenic.
我们听谚语说：“Sin sucre, no hay pais”（没有甘蔗，就没有国家），我们在古巴时正值甘蔗收获季节。多数工作是用大机器来完成。但有些甘蔗仍需手工收获。非机械化的途径更富田图诗味道。
|
|
Tobacco is also important to the economy. The best tobacco comes from Pinar del Rio province, and all the tobacco we saw appeared to be grown by small-scale farmers. This farm is in the Vinales Valley. Leaves were dried for a few days in the sun, then cured in the shade of the thatched building.
烟草对经济也很重要。最好的烟草来自比那尔德里奥省，我们看到的所有烟草都是小规模生产的农民种植的。烟叶已在阳光下晒干多日，然后送到茅屋的阴凉下加工贮藏。
|
 |
|
|
 |
Cuban cigars are still rolled by hand, and it is skilled work. We were interested to see that Cuban cigar factories still employ "readers." At the front of the room, someone reads aloud from newspapers, short stories, even novels, to help workers pass the time and further their education as well.
古巴香烟仍是手工卷制，这是一个熟练工种。我们饶有爱好地看到古巴卷烟工厂里还雇佣了“读书员”。在房间的前面，有人大声地读着报纸、短篇小说，甚至是长篇故事，帮助工人打发时间，同时又提高了他们的教育水平。
|
|