Rice Harvesting Time!

Yesterday (October 10th)we took a 1hr bus ride from Hanoi to a small village. The majority of the villagers own small plots of land to cultivate (mainly rice). Each family owns at least one suất (about 360 acres) of farmland, some own 2-3, depending on their household size. One family allow us to help them harvest two suất of rice land. We suck. Basically three of us equals one of the lady. She was slashing her sickle with a sense of urgency and efficiency--like one of sonic the hedgehog's maddening moves. Two hours of pure sweat and hard work never felt so good. While I was holding the sickle, I cannot help but think, this what my own grandparents did just fifty or sixty years ago. I'll never look at another bowl of rice the same. When my parents said don't waste even a single grain of rice, I didn't really understand. Now it makes so much sense and I have such an appreciation for it. I remember in high school, I got so sick of rice and I told my parand not the Rients "why can't we eat something else besides rice?" I was only defining rice in terms of taste. Rice is more than carbohydrates, it creates the identity of the Vietnamese culture. Hmnnn, maybe I should write a song on "Oh white complex sugar, I love you so."

After harvesting and spending lunch with the owner, I wander around the village and here comes this elderly man with his black umbrella and three grandchildren tagging behind him. But what I notice first is his glowing smile. He seems like the happiest man alive. I tag along with him on his daily walk (apparently, that's all there is to do in the village)and we chat about the village life. His son is in the city Hanoi, working, while the rest of the family farms. Apparently, all the villagers hire people to harvest the rice (the wage is about 30,000 or 40,000 Đồng, which is about $1.5 - 2 dollars per the morning of harvesting). The rice field provides enough to each family for a year so they actually eat what the harvest. Almost all the villagers diversify their industry besides farming, just to earn more money to live. I walked around and most men fix motorbikes and the womyn does some tailoring work. There's a pond for the locals to fish, if they pay the fishing price. The elderly man (Mr. Trân as in Mr. Leg)said one of his son is a barber. It is interesting to notice, most of the rice harvesters are womyns. Ông Trân jokingly said, "If you are a man, you gotta find yourself a girlfriend or a wife quick. Who else will do you see doing the farm work around here?" First thing in my mind: That's so sexist. Damn this patriarchal world. Most of the economic opportunities are reserved for men, since they are the ones who can go into the big city like Hanoi and earn some income for their family back home. I understand that but I'm beginning to feel tired of the "that's just the Vietnamese culture" excuse. I can't really blame the elder for working in this system, that's just how it was long time ago. Argggh, fuck patriarchy.

I walked with this elderly man until he reaches his son's barbershop/house. After his chat, I begin to get a better picture of this village in the last 10 years. He said, when he was growing up, only rich foreigners are allow to have two-story cement houses while the locals live in straw huts. And now if you did a 360 view of the village, all within site are newly constructed cement houses--all are built within the last 5-10 years. Where do they get this money from? Selling bananas, pigs, or extra vegetable aren't enough. He talked about being in three wars in his lifetime. First the Japanese when he was a kid, then the French, then the Americans. I wanted to ask him about the land reforms...but he kind of felt confused. He asked me which one. I think he didn't want to talk about it. I still want to know how can he be so content and at peace with just simple daily walks around the village? Holy crap, that's all there is to do around there. As he continued his walk, I can see the trail of unanswered questions behind his footsteps, questions that I won't have the chance ask.

A clip of the EAP crew harvesting some rice...


Ông Trân and his grandchildren