An Average Day With The Zhengs

Erick Yax-Vidal

Green Class

2/4/2012

An Average Day With The Zhengs

            The cool early morning breeze woke me up as I left my bed and went outside to where my host families goat was.The sun was not yet up. I did what I usually do in the morning milked the goat so that we may have breakfast. I gave a friendly wave to our neighbors as they walked by me heading to their fields. They seemed like nice people even though I have never formally met them. After milking the goat I went inside to the kitchen where I saw my host mother Huai Zheng cooking rice and squeezing oranges until the last drop of their oh so sweet juice was into a cup. My host father Li Zheng came back from where they kept the chickens with three eggs one for each of us. My host family where farmers. They lived in a small simple house but for then was everything. Although Chairman Mao had given a policy to eliminate all religion the Zhengs believed in Confucianism. Sadly they had no kids there one and only son have died of tuberculosis.

After breakfast me and my host father went to the fields. It was about six in the morning when dawn broke open like a wound that breaks afresh. We harvested all of the rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed that we could find able to harvest. By the time we were finished gathering all of the food it was about twelve.

            We went home holding tight to all of the food making sure none of it fell. When we got home we ate our lunch Huai gave us a broth with rice and a little bit of pork, leftovers. I did not mind the fact that they where leftovers considering that I had just worked for six hours straight in the scorching sun  and it was either this or nothing at all. After that me and Li went to the closest market although it wasn’t close at all, It was ten miles away! Which if it wasn’t enough we had to walk. By the time we got to the market I was exhausted. There we sold about half of what we harvested. Today was a fairly good day because some times we barely even sell a thing.

            We went home at about seven and got home at about eight. For dinner we have dumplings with a side of rice. For desert we have a couple moon cakes with tea. We talked about how our day went. Our story was always the same but Huai was interested as if it were a new story everyday. I could see in their eyes that they enjoyed this time a lot. I did too being able to spend so quality time with them without having to rush. After that we went to bed. The next morning I woke up and started the routine again.