SLEEPING IN

I slept in til 7. :) And I fell asleep to laughter. Life is good.

The kids just pick things off trees and eat them. No water or soap. I guess they’re accustomed to the taste of dirt. I’m still kind of scared of dirt (after all, it’s dirty). But the kids always smell so fresh and sweet. I’m glad they at least use soap for their bodies.

I’m tired, but a good kind of tired. We spent the whole morning in the fields pulling weeds. I was already tired just from walking there, yikes. We worked in the peanut field, yum. They have beautiful little yellow flowers that look like mini orchids. I think I pulled more weeds today than my whole life combined. Whenever my mom asks me to help her, I always say that I’ll be right out. Ha. She’s usually done by the time I make the long trek out the door. (I know, I’m a horrible daughter.) But it’s really not too bad! Especially when you’re working with friends. And when they give you popsicles.

Waraporn came up to me about 30 minutes into the weed pulling & said, “You! Sit!” Then she dragged me to the side, pulled a bunch of tall grass, set it on the ground, and made me sit & rest. A very sweet gesture, but I felt like such a noob. I’m 23! I should be able to do this! So I went back out there and pulled & pulled & pulled.

Something else that amazes me: the kids never get dirty. And they wear flip flops all day. Even when I serve a meal, I get soot all over me from the big pot (they cook over a fire). My jeans, sleeves, hands. But the kids never get dirty. I don’t understand it. Can someone explain??
Another thing: we eat SO much rice. It’s nice & plump, not quite the sticky Japanese kind, but something like that. I’ve never eaten so much rice before. My family’s not much of the rice type, and when we do eat it, it’s usually brown rice. And I’ll have maybe 100 grains or so. Here, I eat a zillion per meal. No joke. And then Tanin always throws another heap on my plate. Goodness!