The Corn Grows Ripe

It is harvest time in the valley.  Everywhere you look people are harvesting their corn.  They have massive corn fields and they break the stalk in half, tear off the cob, and hurl it through the air into a pile.  Once they have their pile large enough, they gather all the cobs in bags that are about 200 pounds each and carry them on their heads back to their house where they dry the corn and will use it throughout the year to feed their families.  They primarily use the corn for making tortillas and they dry it by hanging it in the roof of their house, lighting a fire, and letting the smoke dry it out.  This is obviously a bit dangerous and we have already heard of one house burning down in a village near us.  But at this point, it is the only way they have to preserve the food they have for their family for the year.

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to help our neighbors with their harvest.  We were really not extremely helpful, but we bagged a bit of corn and helped carry a very small amount (no where close to 200 pounds) over to their house.  They are our closest  neighbors and they also have four children....one boy and three girls: Don Juan, Dona Helena, Olga, Susannah, Selbin, and Sandra.   I would like to get to know them better, but it has been difficult to spend time with them so far because they have been so busy with their harvest.  The kids, however, have enjoyed playing together a bit.

Also, if you are interested in learning a bit more about the culture where we find ourselves, there is a fabulous children's novel called, "The Corn Grows Ripe".  Little Man read it to kick off his school year and it was highly educational.  What we are currently watching, with the harvest, is exactly as it's described in the book.  The descriptions in the book about believing in all the different gods of nature and appealing to them for a bountiful harvest are very true.  The people here very much believe in such things and we are trying to help our children understand what we can learn from them such as appreciating and respecting nature, diligently caring for their families, and living a simple life that we busy Americans can certainly.  At the same time, we are trying to teach our children that we also have a responsibility, given by God, to care for and steward the resources this earth has given us.

Dona Helena shows us a small part of their harvest.

Little Man carrying a bag of corn on his head.