S A I L » 2009 » July

Rice fields in Laos. ທົ່ງນາທີ່ເມືອງລາວ.

The first thing one must do when planting rice is to wear appropriate pants. Ideally, you should wear shorts, since your calves will be sunk knee-deep in mud. Grab a conical hat if you can, since you can’t hide from the sun in a paddy field. Shoes are unimportant since you don’t need them in the sludge. Come with an open attitude, a strong back, and the willingness to sing Lao songs.

If you’re most of the SAILers, you wore pants that could be rolled up, old t-shirts, and mosquito repellent. We made due with what we had on the day we ventured outside town to watch the rice farmers plant their second harvest for the year. Not only watch, but participate of course! We left our flip-flops on the banks of the paddies, and 4 of the 7 of us marched (or slowly trudged) through the mucky water to our appointed places. We were handed bunches of young rice stalks, which we cradled like babies and had to plant in a particular way. When we did it wrong, the farmers were right there to correct us. The process, started slowly, but after 20 minutes or so, Sandra was planting with both hands, Amy was complimented for her neat rows, Eileen didn’t fall over in the water, and well, I got through my 2 bunches quite well! Vatsana and Brandin caught it all on video from the sidelines.

We had come to learn about rice planting and catching fish through a project from the Lao organization PADETC. The project was introducing techniques for naturally fertilizing rice, rather than having villagers buy expensive fertilizer from Thailand. The villagers were very proud of their effort, and the fact that they could save money and eat a healthier product. They loved showing us how they lived off the land, and watching us laugh and stumble through the activities.

After the rice planting, we walked barefoot along the rice banks to find fish living among the paddies. These were little guys, “paa tamaxat,” ປາທໍາມະຊາດ not like the bigger fish they were raising in nearby ponds. We took a big weighted, or casing net called “hae” ແຫ with us to see what we could catch. Which was mostly rocks. One of our Lao friends joining us turned out to be a pro and was a huge help in arranging the net for us. This was a real process, called “tuk hae” ຕຶກແຫ involving gathering it just the right way in one hand, then wrapping it around one arm just right so it could be correctly cast. Amy, Eileen, Sandra and I all gave it a try — some more successfully than others!

But it was Amy who really took the plunge. Ever fearless, ever adventurous, Amy didn’t think twice about following a man chest-high into the water along the length of a long net to check for fish. The net was checked every 2-3 days. As I followed another man to collect “pak bong” ຜັກບົ້ງ (vegetable known as morning glory) in a nearby pond, Amy disappeared around a corner through the water. Fifteen minutes later she resurfaced with 10 small fish in her basket! But her success was not as big as the smile on her face! She truly loved the experience. After walking around the rest of the rice fields, we returned to the hut to have lunch — bamboo shoot soup ແກງໜໍ່ໄມ້, the vegetables we had collected, sticky rice ເຂົ້າໜຽວ (of course), eggplant “jeow” ແຈ່ວໝາກເຂືອ and Amy’s fish ປິ້ງປາ– freshly BBQ’d! Nice to taste the fruits of our labor. But for the rice…we’ll have to return in November, during the That Luang festival, to harvest what we planted. Then our rice planting experience will be complete!

Making Khao Tom for the Khao Pansa (Buddhist Lent) at Achaan Viengsavanh's home.

Khao Pansa – Buddhist Lent or the Retreat of Monks to their Village Wats (Buddhist temple) during the Rainy Season for 3 Months.

On the eve of Khao Pansa or Buddhist Lent, Yaeng, Samantha and I were invited to our Professor Viengsavanh’s quaint, modest home located near the National University of Laos (Dong Dok). On the eve of Khao Pansa, many Lao women prepare khao tom, (sweet rice with coconut and bananas steamed in banana leaves) to give to the monks for merit. Achaan Viengsavanh made a huge vat of rice for us to roll up in the banana leaves. We learned to roll up the rice dessert in the banana leaves. Apparently, I need to work on making my khao tom much smaller. We also made khaonom nep, which is white with coconut in the middle and is wrapped in banana leaves too, but in a triangular fashion.

It was a fascinating experience to see how our teacher and her family lived. They live in faculty housing, a structure that is basically a three room building with thatched walls and roofs. The kitchen was a small room where water was taken from a large jug and the stove looked like a tall thin bucket made of clay. The khao tom was steamed in a basket on top of the coal burning stove. While it steamed, our professor was kind enough to feed us dinner. She made khao soy, a dish with ground pork and rice noodles in a spicy chili sauce. It was delicious.

Khao Pansa begins early in the morning, about 6:00AM. By 5:30AM, many people have already gathered and prepared for Khao Pansa. The local wats (temples) set up chairs and on a long table they line up silver and clay alms bowls (which belong to the monks) to collect sticky rice, candy, snacks, money, flowers and candles. It was a festive experience. Many Lao people in their finest sinhs and pha biengs (shoulder slash) carry silver bowls to offer their gifts for merit. It was a spectacular sight. I didn’t know what to do, I simply got into line and followed what the local people were doing. Each bowl you come to, you must lift the offering up towards your head and then place it in the bowls. During which time, the monks chanted on a loud speaker and recited prayers. I sat under a tent to observe and take in the experience and felt very fortunate to be there with the people and that I was equally welcomed. I loved that although its a special religious event that should be taken seriously, the movement and the activities in and around the wats continued to go on, not taking away from the ceremony or being disrespectful. It was natural and informal, and the people had a high level of comfort, illustrating that the special event belongs to the people and not the other way around. The only sad part of this event is that I will not be here in three months when Buddhist Lent ends and the big celebration begins.