FIELDTRIP, 1970s

A group of students stand next to a trailer which is filled with little samples of grass and soil. We stand in the middle of the 'prairie', a schoolbus parked just beyond. Pale blond grass, taller than me, surrounds the little clearing in which the trailer sits. The wind moves through the grass. The teacher is crouched on the ground next to a small fire. We throw grass, leaves and twigs into a pot filled with water. The liquid is brown and smells of tea. But then everything smells of tea to me. Tea, chai, is drunk at all hours in our little corner house and at every occasion. The students do not drink this concoction, of course. I am sure it would have been quite poisonous. In my memory it is this way: the sky is blue, the air is cool, the fire is smoky and the grass moves. All quite mysterious.

Comments

[calvo]

that's a lovely little vignette, md.

what was the grass tea for, do you know?

also, speekina teas, I've meant to ask...what's "ekcupchai" from your url?

[MD]

ek = one in hindi. Indians often speak a funny mixture of english and hindi. A cup of tea = ekcupchai.

[calvo]

ahhh...thanks!

I knew chai (it's also the russian word for tea), but I wasn't sure about the first part.

so I've learned something new today...I may as well go home right now.

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