Wade in the water

Many of th Yilan ETAs, myself included, teach in the rural townships of greater Yilan County.  While farming is the traditional way of life out in these regions, we -- along with many of the younger generations of Taiwanese kids -- are pretty removed from it all.  I've watched the crop rotation throughout the year in the fields surrounding my school but never had the chance to get down and dirty in the paddies myself...

Until this morning!

To give us a better perspective on the daily lifestyle of many Yilan residents, Fulbright Yilan arranged for the ETA group to take part in some good, ol' fashioned rice planting!

After admiring the specially-made banner and being christened with traditional farming hats in front of the local news media, we kicked off our shoes and got down n' dirty in the paddies!

To add to the ridiculousness of it all (a bunch of foreigners wading around barefoot in a rice paddy at 9am) we got into the spirit by singing some good ol' fashioned gospel songs, led by one of our resident Southerners.  This was also documented by the local news media.  Wade in the water, children.

  

Showing off my handiwork.  The local news media encouraged us to smear mud on our faces while in the field.  While I was a little hesitant at first, it was all very tasteful and classy.

Farmer Man plows his field before planting.  One of my fave pics from the day.

Sandhya's "hatting" was documented by the local news

As was Brittni's towel crowning

Then we sat around like this for a while

Then we were each given a chunk of rice and got to it!

We all had a fun time playing in the mud and then were treated to a lunch of rice porridge and our own freshly picked cherry tomatoes!  We also got to keep the hats, win!