For 20 days, I
woke up every morning to the sound of Tepuq Sina Rang and
my fellow WHEE-ans' laughter as they had their breakfast. I would make my way to the dining area and greet Tepuq 'petabi lekedang'
and hear her replying me with a 'good morning'. After breakfast, I changed into my paddy clothes and walked to the paddy field with my 'sawah padi' buddy, Dev. On some mornings, Parthiban and
Kee Kiat would join us but most days it was just Dev and I.
Due
to the rainy season, Bario Asal had a muddy terrain. So if you're
wearing slippers like me, you'll have a hard time walking to the
paddy field (or like me, you'll give up halfway and walk barefoot).
The walk to the sawah is no ordinary walk. As a city kid, have you
ever experienced hungry chickens chasing after you for food? Or... do
you wave and greet the random guy that passed you on his bike? (Bet
you don't. I've tried it in the city and all I got was weird looks). In Bario, you
get both and so much more! All these little things in addition to the freshness of the morning air just makes you feel very alive, if you know what I mean - but guess you won't unless you've been to Bario yourself.
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| Muddy roads in Bario |
During
our (Batch 5) time in Bario, it was the harvesting season. So
shadowing the ladies meant harvesting paddy with them. Wearing our
knee-length socks and gloves, geared with 'sabits' (sickles), food and drinks,
we made our way into the sawah (paddy field) to start 'ketam padi' (harvesting
paddy). I'll be honest with you, 'sawah' work is tough. It's fun when you do it for the first few times but then it gets tiring and you'll be waiting for it to be over (salute to the
ladies for doing it all year long!). As exhausted as I was, I found working in the paddy field sort of fun, especially when we had Tepuq Bulan, Parthiban and Kee Kiat around. The more the merrier
right? Right. There was a lot of random singing, and occasional
shouts of 'Maju! Maju!'.
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| BREAK TIMEEE!!! |
When the clock strikes 10 am, Aunty Jenette would always call for break time which meant chilling by the paddy field eating 'senape' or 'roti telinga' (my
favourite by the way) and having orange juice/tea/water while
listening to the tepuqs' never ending jokes. After a while, we would go back
to 'ketam padi' till 12 pm, when we would have our lunch. We would go back to the shack and the tepuqs would lay out the food they brought for us. We
would pray and then, the feasting would begin. The food was always good
and after working under the sun, we would all be hungry (more like starving!). I'm
always in awe at how the tepuqs managed to prepare food before coming to
the 'sawah' to work. Imagine waking up super early everyday to
prepare food and then work in sawah the whole day! Now that's hard
work. #superwoman Following lunch is nap time and the tepuqs being
such sweet people, always allowed Dev and I to sleep in. Waking up feeling guilty, Dev and I would
work our backs off for the next few hours before we were told to go
back by the tepuqs. Although hesitant, we always complied because we would be dead tired by then. #citykids
Living
in Bario was like living in wonderland, away from technology, away
from stress. It was a worry-free life. Maybe that's why I sometimes
find myself wishing I could ditch all responsibilities and take the
next flight back to Bario.
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| Bario got me like... |
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