Rice fields are quintessentially Chinese. You see them in movies, tv shows, documentaries, photographs and paintings. And every time I ride the train (which is every three months or so), I always watch for them. They're as amazing as watching wheat fields back home. But they were also on our to-visit list. Thankfully our friend Amanda's family still runs the farm and rice fields!
(Also, I feel like I need to give a disclaimer. I had forgotten to pack my camera that morning, so I pretty much didn't even want to go because I'd be missing out on some amazing photo opportunities. Thankfully I sucked it up and it was amazing! I've chatted before (here) about cameras and how disapointed I get when the photos I want aren't the photos I have. But something is better than nothing! And having only a camera phone is great practice for me- I can't rely on super-fast shutter speeds and zoom lenses to get the photo I want- I just have to get right down there into it! Every photo (except the group photo) was taken with the camera on our Samsung phones.)
I honestly forget we're in the Republic of China sometimes. Then we see things like this.
It had been cut, but you can see it starting to grow again. I don't know much about rice farming, but I think rice is only cut once, like barley or wheat, harvested and replanted after a period for the next harvest.
And Asian farmers produce something like 87% of the worlds rice. Wowee!
It was a little damp still.
And these cool things are sesame seeds. Amanda can speak Taiwanese, so she was able to tell us this farmer would harvest the entire field himself, one bit at a time, every day until it was finished. Whew!
Also, I didn't realize it until this day, but did you know that these infamous hats are actually perfect? When the farmer is finished with it or it becomes too ratty they can cut the strings (if they're plastic), take any plastic off the tip (some have an extra little piece as reinforcement to help keep the water out), and literally just leave it in the field to decompose. They're made of woven leaves!
Dave is a giant. And that is sugar cane.
And a GIANT mango.
I bet it'll taste amazing when it's ripe, too!
Baby guava!! (My fav Taiwanese fruit!)
Just hanging with a bunch of bananas.
Grandma/ Auntie/ Uncle's garden
I was hot. And found a woven fan!
One thing that really struck us was how we were asked twice if we were uncomfortable with the way they lived (literally referring to their home). It had nothing to do with not being rude, but Dave and I had to tell Amanda's family that no, we weren't. Even though we're miles apart and completely different, I was absolutely reminded of my families' farms back home. It was amazing to see the similarities, even though we knew just how different the farms were. Back home we can grow apples and strawberries, grapes and cherries, blueberries and pears. Here mangos grow by the side of the road, kids come to school with guava slices, and banana bunches are sliced off in front of you. And yes, farm houses here are one-story and made of bamboo and cement and have their doors wide open because they can, but it was amazing to just be welcomed in, no questions asked.
Before we visited the farm Dave and I had the super-cool opportunity to speak to a bunch of youth at Amanda's hometown church about marriage and purity and Christ. Amanda translated for us, and it was a pretty amazing experience, being able to share our story so many miles from home! You never know where you'll make an impact!!
To finish off our fantastic afternoon we stopped off at a restaurant that specializes in Taiwanese steak. There's this delicious chunk of beef on top of noodles and broccoli smothered in a delicious black pepper sauce, served in a hot skillet plate with a fresh egg cracked right before it's brought to you so you can let it cook as long as you like.
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