Christiana Louisa

Friday was the day, the date, April 27, 2007. Grade three was preparing for their field trip to Taman Buah Mekasari. As we boarded the bus and started our journey to Mekarsari, we must have anticipated that this field trip was going to be somewhat out of the ordinary. Looking around me on the bus, I noted that my fellow classmates were in high spirits and excited about all of the activities that were to follow throughout that day.

Having said all of that, not one of us could have expected what was about to come. The rice planting activity is what I am going to focus on, however the day was full of activities that most of the grade three students had never experienced. To mention a few, a buffalo washing activity(no, I'm not joking, we really washed live buffalos), a'caping' hat painting activity, a train tour of the grounds and a mud slinging activity, where each of us was on a mission to accumulate the greatest amount of mud on our bodies, may I just add that this last activity was not planned, but was an added bonus compliments of our teacher, Mrs Jane, at least we don't think she planned it!

Now the first shock for me was that rice has to go through a process before it gets to the supermarket, it just doesn't arrive there in plastic bags. Together with my fellow grade three students, we were about to learn what planting rice was all about, let me warn you, it's not pretty.

Imagine trying to ease yourself into a thick, foul smelling, muddy bath that stretches for as far as your eyes can see. The smell, so overwhelming, makes you almost reconsider taking the plunge at all. I know for my part, had it not been for fact that everyone else was going in, I would have chickened out. I shut my eyes and hoped for the best, in I went. I felt like I was part of the ingredients of a thick soup, surrounded by sludge.

As I was given my portion of rice to plant, I vividly remember that pungent smell, that only got worse with time. We were given directions on the rice planting process, including the distance that must separate each, in this case 10 to 20cm. Trying to keep focused on the instructions was difficult because of stench of that mud, the stomach turning smell could be compared to that of rotten eggs, not at all pleasant.

I prepared to plant my rice, lowering my head unfortunately, closer to the smelly mud. Glancing left and right, I noted that my classmates were not going to back out so, trying to lift my nose as high as possible, I held my breath and inserted the rice into the muddy bottom of the pond.

After that, a strange sensation followed. I was feeling a little proud of myself, or was it self satisfaction that I didn't give up? I wasn't sure, but it was a good feeling. Suddenly I had a new found respect for this food we call rice.

Our journey to Mekarsari will always be a memorable occasion, it was as unique as it was extraordinary. I feel I am a changed person after so many new experiences, and one things for sure, my rice has a new found flavour now.

Posted by Christiana Louisa on Tuesday, May 1, 2007 at 3:28 AM | Permalink