Woke up this morning bright early to the sounds of the rosters. We were invited to a tradition naming ceremony which began at 6am, so once again it was an early start to the day. The naming ceremony occurs 7 days of the birth of a child. Rice and coconut milk are stuffed into bamboo rods, and roasted over open flame for about an hour. During the time that the rice was roasting, Tim, Matt, Darwyn, Alanah and I got to go with two of the local men to wrestle a pig that would later be sacrificed. We got in wobbly canoes and paddled across the river to where all the pigs hang out. There wasn’t much wrestling the happened on my part but the men successful got the pig tied up and back in a canoe across the river. We had breakfast of rice and noddles, then it was time for the sacrifice. With the mother holding the baby in tradition clothes, the chief said the blessings and the pig was killed.
In the last two days, I have seen my first two sacrifice. Although I found it very hard to watch, there is a sense of calm and peace that fills the air.
After the sacrifice, we pilled into the backs of jeeps and drove out to an area that the community is trying the reforest. They have a beautiful nursary in full operation and they have already begun planting trees. Darwyns 23rd birthday is on February 2nd, so Jesse, Spencer and I decided to buy him 23 trees. After planting all the trees, we drove over to the rice fields. All afternoon, we were sat and talked waiting for our lunch of coconut rice to slow cook over the open flame. It isnt rice harvesting time right now so unfortunately we wernt able to pick any rice, but at least we got a feel for the effort it takes to cultivate rice. Lunch was amazing, and probably one of my favourite meals thus far. The simplicity of the food and the cooking process really added to the entire experience. Its so nice to be able to finally be a part of the food preparation process and have that direct connection with our meal. After the afternoon spent in the rice field, we got into back into the beds of the trucks for the ride back to Wehea Village. During the ride home, we were hit with another intense rainstorm that left us soaked from head to toe and feeling refreshed. Dinner was served to us at the Chiefs house. We are all staying in small groups in different homestay families, so it was nice to all join up for dinner. The elders preformed tradition music for us after our meal. Their voices filled the room with intense energy and once again I felt extremely lucky to have these generous people allow me experience their culture first hand.
Tomorrow we head out to Wehea protected forest where will be staying for 7 days. I can’t wait to have some down time in the forest to reflect on all that we have experience so far and to recharge for the next month of this trip.
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