Every other day, volunteers rotate and go corn cutting in the morning. The stalks are washed and given to the elephants when they are in their shelters at night. We ride on a big truck to different corn fields. Some people like to ride on the roof of the truck head. The driver’s name was Toon.
At the corn field, some of the volunteers are given machetes. We slice the stalk as close to the ground as possible. Of course, we do it to not waste food, but it is also to make the field easier to walk through once the corn is all cut. High cut stalks are easy to trip on, especially if you can’t see where you’re going with a bundle of corn in your arms.
As we are chopping, and putting corn into piles, the “corn” ladies hired by the park tie up the corn with a piece of string. Other volunteers carry the bundles to the truck. As we finish up cutting the corn, the rest of the volunteers also bring corn back to fill up the truck.
When I am on my way back to the field to carry another bundle to the truck, I like to look for corn that the corn pickers may have missed. I can usually find a good half dozen. Kham Pan loves corn. I leave them with the husk on and peel it right before I feed it to her.
We need to wear long sleeves and pants to protect our skin from the corn leaves. Since I wore leggings, the lower part of my leg was exposed. I didn’t feel anything when I worked in the corn field but large welts and rashes developed on my legs that afternoon. Some volunteers get welts on their neck from carrying bundles on their shoulders. I was red and itchy for a week! I had light brown scars to scare the new volunteers on my second week.
After loading all the corn stalks onto the truck, the volunteer coordinators always chop up some refreshing fruit for us to enjoy. I need to work on my watermelon spitting skills for next time!
(I think my shirt is supposed to be shade lighter but it got completely soaked under the long sleeve button up I wore. I didn’t realize I couldn’t breathe under all those clothes until I took it off!)
On the way back, volunteers get to climb up the truck and sit on top of the corn for a windy ride back. The fluff at the top of the corn irritates my eyes and makes me sneeze so I opt to sit in the front with Toon.
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