Day 99 Tea and Rice

SYNOPSIS:  Majid showed me rice fields and tea plantations.  The rest of the day was spent in transit.  Muddy rice fields and lush tea plantations - it's the women who suffer the most.Majid wanted to show me some local sights – a beautiful castle, a great view.  But I wanted to see rice and tea fields…  He was surprised, but happy to show me around.  With his cousin’s help, who owns a car, we drove into the countryside.  I had been on a tea plantation in China once.  It’s been a few years and I don’t remember the plants too well.  But I do not recall the same look.  Tea plants here are like shrubs.  They grow in thick rows of bushes, planted close together with narrow rows separating them.  That is to enable the women who plug the tea leaves to reach each of the shrubs.Iran is known for drinking tea, even late into the night. I have no idea how they sleep given the hard beds and the black tea.  They seem to have grown immune to the stimulants in the tea.  I had to excuse myself as often as possible after 6 PM from any tea drinking.  And when I failed I paid for it with sleepless nights.  When I point out that there is caffeine, rather teeine (?) in black tea, they look at me in disbelief.  What am I talking about?!It is interesting that I could not get my hands on any Iranian grown tea until here and now in the Gilan province.  Everywhere else the Iranians drink, buy and sell imported tea.  I have taken pictures of tea stands at the bazaar with more than 8 different tea imports and not a single local brand.  Most of the Iranians look down on their home-grown tea.  I really don’t know why.  I had it here and it was just fine.  Tea fields are everywhere in this area once you know what to look for.And speaking of knowing and guessing – what I took for grape plants from the bus going down the coastal highway, are actually kiwi plants.  They grow very similarly on thin stems with wide reaching branches which are supported by ropes and posts.  Almost everyone seems to have at least a few plants in their gardens and some farmers grow huge plantations full of them.And there were the rice fields.  This is the time for tilling.  Men do that.  I have seen them walk through wet and muddy fields behind a hand-held plough.  I have also seen huge tractors with special gear attached to their wheels turning the muddy soil.  I guess what you get depends on whether you have the money to rent one of those machines.  If not, you are stuck doing the dirty work yourself.   But the men wear boots working in these fields.  They also grow the small rice plants under plastic-covered tents until they are big enough to be spread out.  Majid explained that it is the women’s job to plant the small rice plants into the larger fields; all by hand.  It takes weeks working in the muddy water.  In order to move they have to be barefoot!  Many of them develop serious problems in their legs and joints…Seeing what it takes to get a bowl of rice onto the table made me pause.  How much am I willing to pay for a pound of rice or a pound of tea for that matter?!  Majid confirmed my impression – this is a very poor area.  Most of the people around here are farmers.  The government does not subsidize their work and their products are too cheap for them to make ends meet.  It shows.  As excited as I was to see these fields, it made me sad to realize the shortcomings of this whole economic system.  We consumers are so removed from these products that we behave as if they fall out of the sky.  The work that is behind these things remains hidden to us.  The poverty associated with the producers is none of our concern.  I don’t think this will change any time soon.  But it was good to become aware of it.Nine long hours in a crowded, overheated bus with no ventilation, and a crying baby were ahead of me.  The same movie I have already seen four times now (!) was playing yet again.  I will spare you the details.  I arrived back in Teheran.Good night.