I slept in today, the alarm didn't go off but we still made it to breakfast on time. Today's agenda includes going to an organic orchard where they grow the bancha 晚茶. We helped them cultivate sudachi, a type of citrus fruit. They showed us the process of how they squeeze the fruit to make a drink. They send out the liquid to be packaged, it was delicious. They are in the process of trying to globalize and find a market for their product.
Their farm didn't have many fruits left on the trees, so we helped their neighbor pick fruits. We were there for quite a while, and some of us were working so hard we ended up with scratches from the thorns. Amongst us were also spiders and wildlife that have settled into the trees. We tried out best to avoid them, but Atsuko walked right up, and nonchalantly tore down the webs, spider included, and continued on with the work. Occasionally, you would hear outbreaks of screams from little critters popping out at us. It was a good time.
I saw another praying mantis. It was really cool, and had bright green eyes. Some of us took turns and picked it up to take pictures with. Poor little guy. We released it back into the tree.
After we finished picking the fruits, the man invited us to see his pets, and we obliged. We didn't know what we were in for, but we were pleasantly surprised. He had two dogs, one named Choko, and the other Taichi. Choko was a little chihuahua mix with Shi Tzu. He was eight but still looked like a puppy full of energy. He was named Choko because his movements when running made that noise. Taichi was a slow moving eighteen year old Shi Tzu. Not as fun, but still really sweet. We enjoyed their company.
We went to a restaurant by the 0 Waste Academy for lunch. The building was built with two floors. The elevation facing the mountains had glass windows as walls, fully taking advantage of the beautiful views.
After a quick lunch, we went back to Nakamura Sans home to finish our books. This time we were dropped off at the base of the slope he lives on and trekked uphill to his home. Upoarriving, we immediately began to cut the paper fabric that we made the previous day into the correct size and shape as the template he provided. The next step was to glue the sides in with a mixture of clothing starch and water. It took us a few hours to get everyone on the same page. On my down time, I sat in his studio and looked out to the mountains. They look different today. Nothing ever stays the same. impermanance. Before we knew it, the sun had set and we finally got Nakamura to rush. Or at least move a bit quicker, as he showed us the remaining steps to do when we got back to the states. I'm a bit disappointed we didn't get to finish, but that's just what it is.
We head back down the hill lighted by iPads and cheerful chatter and singing.
Tonight, Gufu, Atsuko's husband, is cooking curry for us. It was delicious, and refreshingly spicy in comparison to the food we've been having.
He also brought along with him field notes from his trips to India. They were very neat and had everything documented in it, from drawings of different things, because he doesn't have a camera, to pasted travel tickets and what nots. It gave me journal envy, but it must take a lot of tome and discipline to document in such a meticulous way.
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