I figure a good way to go about this post is to remind our fellow pinans some of the essential lessons learned through our hard efforts.

 

How to brew a really decent cup of coffee

 

Step one: go to the mountain and collect red coffee berries. Remove the fruit and let the seeds dry in the sun until you are left with a nice white bean.

 

Step two: break out the pestle and mortar and start grinding off those pesky husks. Pound away until your arm aches, blow away the husks using one of those nifty baskets, and then pound some more because you most certainly did not get rid of husks in the first go.

 

Step three: roasting time. Build a fire (no volunteer-wood allowed), put a wok on the coals, add the beans and start stirring. How long? In the words of Pinan Jim, “until the beans say they are ready”.

 

Step 4: grind away. This step is not really novel as we all know how to grind coffee, but I can tell you that your arms will not be in a very forgiving mood after pumping the handle around and around for an additional hour.

 

Step 5: put some water in the kettle, add three spoons loaded to breaking point (or more) of coffee and set it all to boil over the non-volunteer-wood coals. Once boiling, filter directly into the cups and drink.

 

Best coffee this side of the Mekong.

 

 

How to make bamboo sticky rice

 

Step 1: ask Pinan Jim to show you which bamboo you need to use to make sticky rice.

 

Step 2: listen to the Pinan then go into the forest and try to figure out what he is talking about.

 

Step 3: go back to the farm with loads of bamboo only to learn that you did not bring back the right pieces.

 

Step 4: ask Pinan Mama to show you which bamboo to cut, then follow Pinan Papa back into the forest to find some.

 

Step 5: cut the bamboo into parts with one open end, then fill with rice peanuts and water. Roll up a banana leaf into a cork and then plug it into the open end.

 

Step 6: Roast your bamboo rice cooker over an open fire, turning constantly, until the outside is a bit blackened. Pinan Tun will let you know when they are done.

 

Serve with lots of chili paste!

 

 

How to sneak off the farms and have a beer (or two) in the village

 

Step 1: do not tell Pinan Jim what you are about.

 

Step 2: Take the road behind the farm until you reach the neighbor’s vegetable patch. Cross down into the field behind the black, cloth fence and jump over the ditch into the rice paddies. Follow the rice paddies until you reach the river and then cross the bamboo bridge to the other side. Go up the hill, and join the road into the village.

 

Step 3: order beers at the local shop and if Pinan Mama happens to stroll by attempt to invite her to join you at the picnic table, so that she becomes an accomplice and does not tell Pinan Jim what you are up to.After one beer, do everything in your power to go back to the farm because you are already drunk after a hard day’s labor and having second beer may cause you to fall asleep in the wrong bungalow or pass out during dinner.

 

 

Ok, enough of the reminders of work

 

Here are some other happy memories:

 

• Archie bitten by a pig and singing us lots of songs about it.

• The feeling of despair when new volunteers arrive, but then getting to know them and making new friends.

• Waking up to roosters in the morning.

• Bathing in the river.

• Collecting volunteer wood in the forest and then rolling the logs down the hill.

• Killing a baby cobra.

• Making soap.

• Making bamboo walls for the bungalows.

• Eating Pinan T’s chili paste.

• Watching the roosters fight.

• Listening to music on the new kitchen floor.

• Collectively washing dishes after (yet another) fabulous feast.

• Hearing the bell ring when the coffee is ready.

• Listening to Pinan Jim play the guitar and sing.

• Seeing Oz jump a high fence as if he is part tiger.

• Gazing at the stars.

• Cooking and eating together.

• Zoltan filming everything and making funny videos.

• Learning from the veteran Pinans (Maria, Stelios, Oz, Anna Maria and Adrien) about farming.

• Seeing everyone with a relaxed and happy smile on their faces at all times of the day!

 

Take care everyone and hope to see you all again soon!