 |
| before |
It's the rainy season here in NE Thailand and that means one thing for all the local rice farmers, time to
dtaam naa or translated as "plant field." With all the rain everything has turned green again and the rice patties have filled up with water. Every morning and evening there is a rush hour of farmers riding out to the fields. Everyone helps out each other and it is a whole family affair. My students are even often taken out of school to help in the fields.
 |
| after |
All this activity had prodded my curiosity until I finally asked if I could go help
dtaam naa. My good buddy Pi Kiow (the same guy from the water buffalo slaughtering) said that I was more than welcome to come out and give it go(haha thats not exactly what he said b/c he doesnt speak English but that's what I got out of his gestures).
So on Saturday Zach and I headed out to to the fields to give
dtaam naa a shot. As we walked down a narrow dirt road to the middle of a rice field, I had a euphoric feeling that we were walking back through time 100's of years ago where there were no tractors, electricity, cell phones, or internet. We came around a corner, walked thru a time portal (a bamboo hut)...
to see nothing but beautiful green rice fields being tended to by local farmers with their conical Asian bamboo hats. No roads in sight, no power lines, and no concrete. Only rice patties, trees, bamboo huts, water buffalo, and smiles from the local farmers.
Pii Chai led Zack and I thru a maze of levies to the patch that was owned by my buddy Pii Kiow. All the farmers work together rotating whose farm they are working until everyone's farm was fully planted. We helped pull up the rice sprouts from the dense green carpeted area and then transplanted them into a cleared field where they are evenly spread out to give them more space.
 |
| Pii Chai leading us |
 |
| separating the rice sprouts |
 |
| transporting the rice sprouts |
 |
| Zack and I planting the rice sprouts |
Zack and I put together covered less area than just one of the other guys and they were constantly correcting our form. It was hard work and I couldn't imagining doing this my whole life like these guys do. It's a simply life but I respect them for having the stamina to do this everyday.
The amazing part about all this is that there are no big tractors to till the soil, plant the crops, or harvest the crops. It is all done by hand and it is a hard life and hard on the body. You see many old men and women who are permanently hunched over. Luckily we were only out there for an hour so I don't think I'll get to much of a hunch. It was an experience that I will never forget; the day went back in time.
 |
| Pii Kiow (center), Lae, and I at the end of the day |
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น