Harvest

Rice

I got to harvest rice for the first time with my community counterpart. I followed him on my bike to someone's rice fields and helped harvest rice with 30+ other men. I was way slower at it then them, obviously. So after 20 minutes, someone took my tool so that someone else could work more quickly. Fine by me! They managed to harvest all of the fields in one morning since there were so many friends there to help.

Look at me go!

It was seriously the most bizarre sight for me. Watching PBS and the Discovery Channel and any other informational programming, it always seemed to be Asia harvesting rice. I had no idea that riec was harvested in Africa, too. I'm not quite sure which type of rice it is because, as you can see, the fields aren't submerged in water. But, the rice still grows. So, I'm not quite sure about that! It's in the works. But, the soil is fertile because these fields have been producing rice for this family for over 80 years!

The harvest starts by grabbing the groups of stalks and chopping them, then placing them in piles. After that, the women and children follow to bundle together the piles.

Many hands make light work!

The women and children bundle together the piles. 

The tool used to chop the stalks!

Peanuts and corn

As I explained in an earlier post, my community planted peanuts and corn in my courtyard before my arrival over 2 months ago. Well, they're harvested! I'd never eaten raw peanuts before, but they're really good!

The peanuts grow in the dirt. Once the leaves turn yellow and start to wilt, they're ready!!

The corn didn't get very big because it was planted too late in the year, but that's okay! Corn is corn!

You can tell that rainy season is over. This is what my courtyard looks like now, after 2+ weeks of no rain, but continued 100+ degree weather. I don't even notice how much I sweat anymore. This heat...man.

Penny and my new rooster Leonard in my drying up courtyard

Speaking of Penny. I would just like to mention that my crazy hen is like a cat. She flies up onto the 5ft. wall and goes into my neighbors' courtyards as she pleases. She then returns whenever she feels like it. Leonard, my rooster, is too heavy to fly over the wall. He likes to crow and wake me up at 3am some mornings. Thanks Leonard, but the sun won't be up for another 2.5 hours.

Sesame

My neighbor grew sesame this year. The sesame seeds are in the pods.