Peyton and I were heading back to the house after a trip into town when we saw a bunch of Thai workers harvesting rice. We pulled over and watched them for a while. They invited us to join them! I was in a dress, but went down anyways, Peyton was unsure so he waited at the moped. They were all laughing and showing me what to do, but it was not working out too well in a dress. So I told them I would be back in a few minutes.
I don’t think they ever expected to see me again because when I pulled back up with Jarrett and the boys 15 minutes later they all started yelling and laughing and beckoning us to come join them. They welcomed us right in and took the time to show us what to do. We ended up staying and working for 2 hours and had the best time. Learning to farm is something we are very interested in. We hope to own our own farm one day and we are always interested in survival skills.
We had so much fun! We now know how to do at least part of the rice farming process, and it was super cool to do something so unique with the boys.
Conner handing some Thai ladies a bunch of cleaned rice stalks
they were so thankful for the help:)
The man is teaching us how to pull the rice up and then whip it against our feet to clean the mud chunks off
mud fight
everyone laughing at Jarrett (and all of us!)-this was a common theme throughout the time we spent trying to learn how to rice farm
the water flows freely from one field to the next, each field is slightly elevated above the one below it. The Thai ladies showed the boys where the cleanest water flowed so they could (try) to clean up
the cleaned rice plants that have been bundled by the two Thai ladies the boys were helping
Peyton helping some of the Thai little boys bring the bundled rice plants to a shed
the tops were trimmed and then replanted
the view from the top of the field where we were working
some ladies replanting the trimmed rice plants that were just uprooted
me (trying) to help and getting a few giggles myself. they have about 10 rows to my 1
rice farming is fun (for 1 hour) and super dirty
Conner after about 20 ant bites and all the Thai workers laughing at him after he fell in the mud:( poor guy-the Thai people are very good natured and laugh a t lot, even when you get hurt! they have laughed at the boys many times and the boys have decided they do not like that part of Thai culture.
Peyton at the end of the two hours of hard work, relaxing in a tree
the nice Thai man that invited me to work in the first place and he even let me take his picture. I think he has a nice smile
sure looks like a lot of fun, and a lot of mud!
yeah it was pretty much all mud:)
How cool! What a awesome experience! You are super cute sister:) love you guys!
thanks amanda, it was really special and super dirty:)
Looks like a lot of work. Makes you appreciate what we take for granted sometimes. Being in the mud is right up Conner and Peyton’s alley. Great experience!
oh man! we could not stop talking about how much those poor people do and get paid only pennies! sooo much work and then we buy a bag of rice for $1 and end up throwing most of it away. It felt good to get to share that with our boys.
This post totally made me smile. What a cool experience.
it was a smiley day:) it was a once in a lifetime opportunity
How fun! Thanks for sharing all the great stories!! Hugs
it was really fun, i feel like we made some new friends too, we see them all the time now around town
Wow! I love the pic of the cleaned rice plants in a pile- really pretty! What a fantastic education you and Jarrett are providing your boys with!
thanks Maria, it was a surreal experience! I kept thinking-I can’t believe we are doing this!
It looks like you had so much fun. I’ve helped cut sticky rice on the side of a mountain and thresh regular rice too. It was during “cool” season in Chiang Rai and definitely not muddy! How fun for you and your family!
Emily! I just was randomly reading this old post when I saw I never responded to you! I am so sorry! I had no idea that sticky rice was different than regular rice. I thought it was how they cooked it. I am interested now, that will be a good project for us with homeschool. Thanks for your sweet comment and sorry for my lame late reply! xoxo, Chelsea
That is so great! Love the pictures and how spontaneous you all are!
thank you Jill, when they asked me to join them I thought-you better say yes!! when else will you get to do this!
Wow ~ that is a lot of work and looked like fun for just a little while! Glad y’all got to experience fully part of their culture. I bet they appreciated the free labor! Love ya’!
haha, I am not sure, we might have cost them some money since we were such a distraction:)
Nana was telling me how she wishes she had been out in the mud with you. NOT REALLY. We do both miss you and wish we were there. LOVE PapaT.
hehe, well i would have made her come! and we miss you too, you can come visit anytime you want! we love you
I love that you all so willingly pitched in to help & learn – what an adventure! I probably would have just driven by thinking “yuck – that looks like really dirty work”! You all looked so cute in the mud & like you (especially the boys) were having a lot of fun. Were you sore the next day? Keep being adventurous & sharing your fun with us! Love and miss all of you.
ahahaha, oh mama, you make me laugh!!! I agree though, adventure does not find us, we have to look for it and be ready. it would be so easy to just go to dinner and back to the house, but what fun is that?! we are learning sometimes the hard way that when an opportunity presents itself you have to take it, we will never get another one like it again.
Love that you just get down and dirty. MUD FIGHT! Peyton and connor are learning so much with each adventure … Can’t wait to see who they become from all of this. #amazingkidsMuch love. Shannon
I agree, Jarrett and I believe and strive to give them a grand life. We basically think that what everyone else does we should try the opposite to see how it works, it has been an amazing journey and I cannot wait to see how it molds each of us.
What a great experience! For all of you. And yes, teaching kids to laugh at themselves is a challenge!
oooh I know! Jarrett and I sometimes take ourselves too seriously, travelling has been good for all of us! we are learning to just take life as it comes and smile
That is such a sweet story. What adventures you are choosing to take, and you could have chosen not to go back. Wonderful, keep on sister. Loving you across the miles!
love you too! and yes it was a very special adventure, I hope that we can continue them for the rest of our lives, we feel like this is what we were made to do. xoxo
That looked like a lot of fun. Our favorite photo was of the boys having a mud fight. Poor Conner looked really sad though. My hubby could totally relate being annoyed at how we (Asians) giggle and laugh at everything. He loves that we are happy and smiling a lot, but gets annoyed when we do so unnecessarily and excessively. Hehehe (see? I did it again). Love reading about your adventures!
I know poor Conner is still bitter at them laughing at him! thanks for reading about our adventures and it has been so interesting learning new cultures, it is one of the reasons we are travelling so the boys can have more of an open mind than Jarrett and I!
At your Aunt Jalene’s suggestion, I recently started reading your blog. Thank you and your beautiful family for sharing your story…and what a beautiful story of LOVE it is. I have thoroughly enjoyed catching up and cannot wait for more!
Hello Ruth! thank you so much for reading our story, it means so much to us. much love ,Chelsea
Love it! You guys are the cutest farmers ever! I love that they invited you, cheered you on, and you all were able to share this memory and a ton of laughter. Now that’s homeschooling, baby! Cool stuff!
i agree-its perfect for homeschooling!