2001-10-18 - 5:21 p.m.
Tuesday night after my adult ed class, two of my students (a mother and daughter) took me with them on a very interesting errand. We drove out into the rice fields and stopped at a small, florescently lit building about the size of 2 telephone booths. In it was a rice machine: you put your recently harvested, brown rice down the shoot, and the machine processes it an spits it out with out the skin, perfectly white. (Brown rice is not very common here, I was surprised to find.) The booth had a mirror on the ceiling so that you could see your rice as it went through the machine. When the rice was spit out on the other end, it was warm, like popcorn. I always wondered what those little buildings were... Who knew? Pictures below.
One advantage of this job (or perhaps of post-college life in general) is that I have a lot of time to read for pleasure. Below is a list of books I've read since I've been here:
"Go Tell it on the Mountain," by James Baldwin - I think I have to read this one again.
"Giovanni's Room," by James Baldwin - Really stunning -- and set in Paris.
"I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away," by Bill Bryson - Funny, but not great.
"Brothel: Mustang Ranch and its Women," by Alexa Albert - Highly recommended, especially if you're interested in the moral, legal or human implications of prostitution. I couldn't put it down.
"The Great Gatsby," by F. Scott Fitzgerald - You've probably read this already.
"Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing," by Ted Conover - Like "Brothel," a really insightful and daring field study. I read it in three days because it was so good.
Let me know if you've been reading anything interesting lately -- or even better, send me a copy!
