This year I had the opportunity to spend a day with the family of one of my students out in their rice fields. They finished harvesting the field so I was able to see what happens after that. I was pretty amazed with how many more steps there are. First, we gathered the small bundles of rice that had been drying out into the fields and put them into larger bundles. Next, we took pieces of bamboo strips and tied up the bundles. It took me about 3 or 4 tries to get it tied the right way :) Then the bundles were all collected on a pole that the men wore over their shoulder. The bundles were piled near large sheets (some plastic, some made from sewn rice bags) that had been spread on the ground. The next task was putting the bundle of rice just the right way between a tool that was made from bamboo poles and string. This was used to raise the bundle back behind your head and then quickly throw it down, so that it hit the sheet and knocked all the grains of rice out of the stalk. This was repeated a few times. The bundles were thrown into a pile where the bundle was shaken one more time to get any remaining loose grains out. Then the bamboo strap was taken off and the rice straw was thrown into a pile. The haystack will be used to feed the cows and water buffalos in the months ahead. Next, the rice was winnowed so that only the rice grains would remain. I saw them do this in two ways. The first way was to use a small flat bamboo basket and toss the rice so that the wind would blow away the chaff. The second way was to move the rice around with your feet while fanning the pile with a large bamboo fan in order to blow away the chaff. Finally, the rice was ready to be put into large bags. From here it will be taken to a place where the outer husk of the rice will be taken off by machines leaving just the white rice kernel which will then be ready to eat or sell. It was a long day, but I was really thankful to observe and participate in something that is so much a part of the culture here :)
This year I had the opportunity to spend a day with the family of one of my students out in their rice fields. They finished harvesting the field so I was able to see what happens after that. I was pretty amazed with how many more steps there are. First, we gathered the small bundles of rice that had been drying out into the fields and put them into larger bundles. Next, we took pieces of bamboo strips and tied up the bundles. It took me about 3 or 4 tries to get it tied the right way :) Then the bundles were all collected on a pole that the men wore over their shoulder. The bundles were piled near large sheets (some plastic, some made from sewn rice bags) that had been spread on the ground. The next task was putting the bundle of rice just the right way between a tool that was made from bamboo poles and string. This was used to raise the bundle back behind your head and then quickly throw it down, so that it hit the sheet and knocked all the grains of rice out of the stalk. This was repeated a few times. The bundles were thrown into a pile where the bundle was shaken one more time to get any remaining loose grains out. Then the bamboo strap was taken off and the rice straw was thrown into a pile. The haystack will be used to feed the cows and water buffalos in the months ahead. Next, the rice was winnowed so that only the rice grains would remain. I saw them do this in two ways. The first way was to use a small flat bamboo basket and toss the rice so that the wind would blow away the chaff. The second way was to move the rice around with your feet while fanning the pile with a large bamboo fan in order to blow away the chaff. Finally, the rice was ready to be put into large bags. From here it will be taken to a place where the outer husk of the rice will be taken off by machines leaving just the white rice kernel which will then be ready to eat or sell. It was a long day, but I was really thankful to observe and participate in something that is so much a part of the culture here :)