-----------------------------------------------6/27/01

Wednesday, 2:03 PM:

Yesterday everyone followed the countryside routine of an afternoon nap, during which I read, wrote, and continued my endless war with the mini-mosquitos. At 5:00 when it's usually time to get back to the fields I asked Guoliao, who was still in bed, if he was coming. "I'm sick," he said. Xiuying wasn't quite ready yet anyway, and I followed her to the neighboring village to buy insecticides for the afternoon's work.

She mixed three kinds of poisons and lamp oil, then diluted with water in a backpack pump-spray unit before strapping it on. All set to kill bugs.

Just southeast of the village, I watched as Xiuying waded off into the rice paddy, pumping and spraying. Then I realized there wasn't much I could do to help out (nor did I feel like wading after her through the poison-covered leaves), so I headed off to check out the activity in the next field.

There I found that most families are busy harvesting corn around this time. The cobs are shucked and thrown into large sacks; then the stalks are cut down, piled up, and burned. I helped one of the neighbors shuck and sack corn until dark, after which the bags of corn were taken home in oxcarts to be spread out in courtyards and on roofs to dry out. Later the corn will be processed by a small machine that removes the kernels.

[[One of the villagers asked where Guoliao was that evening, but when I mentioned he was sick, they scoffed: "Sick again!? He's just lazy!"]]

On my way back, I really felt like part of the village. I know many of the people I passed, who greeted me or waved as opposed to giving me the blank stares or stunned looks I got as a new arrival. I can find my way around the village and field paths, and when I got home, I used my own keys to get in. At this rate, by the end of the week I may almost be worthy of the title "Chinese farmer."

Last night Xianping bought a rather large fish on his way home from work to treat us with the Guangxi delicacy "yu sheng," or raw fish. The fish is first filleted, then further cut widthwise into strips (without removing the skin). Each person gets a tiny bowl containing many oils and spices [peanut oil, vegetable oil, vinegar, hot peppers, cilantro, salt, soy sauce, etc.] in which you soak the fish before eating. It does taste quite good (it was the most popular dish at the table), but I could only eat so much of all those oils. Xiuying said it was nice to have some meat other than pork for a change. In the past they ate more chicken and duck, but since "the recent economy is difficult, we can't afford to raise them anymore."


This morning I was up at 6:00 loading giant bags of fertilizer onto the cart. Breakfast was more dinner leftovers and zongzi from Duan Wu Jie. Time for another morning in the fields.

The first thing we did when we got to today's work field was mix a mountain of fertilizer on a tarp and divide it into bags. As before, Xiuying took the bags and started to spread the mixture along the rows of sugar cane; shortly after, Guoliao began plowing through the rows, me trailing behind with the shaba.

The soil today was much less dry, making for an easier time pushing the dirt around and fixing up the fallen canes; but even though rows were two feet apart just as in the field yesterday, it was more difficult to push through the thick and numerous leaves. The moist soil was obviously perfect for the plants, a good many of which were already taller than me, reaching up to 7 seven feet. It's hard to believe that the sugar can won't be ready to harvest until 5 months from now.

At 10:30 we took a break to eat rice porridge and pickled vegetables, then continued fertilizing until noon, thankful that nearby storms were providing us with cloud cover.

As I walked back by myself, I was intercepted by a farmer sitting in his longyan orchard while his ox ate grass. He asked the standard barrage of questions before I was off on my way...
Top 10 Questions by Chinese Farmers in Small Yin:

By 12:30 I was home hand washing my clothes as per the back-from-the-field routine. Of course, the little reverse-vampiric annoyances are happy I'm back. I'm going to have nightmares about these evil bugs in the future, I just know it.

I made lunch for everyone today, earning the praise of Xiuying, who was delighted that I could "cook better than her husband, even without MSG!" (They're having difficulty accepting that food can taste good without their favorite ingredient. [[China's national ingredient: MSG.]]) I've been invited to cook the meals from now on.

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