Cow Potatoes

In Thai, the word for any-potato-like tuber or root is "mun". What we call "sweet potatoes" they just call "mun" but what we call "potatoes" they call "mun farang", or "foreign potatoes." They have another one, in our village called "mun nhua", or "cow potatoes" since it is often used to feed the cows. I think it's cassava.

Last night Poo warned me, "tomorrow you will work. We need to plant the potato cows."

I yelled at her, "Stop saying potato cows! In English, the adjective comes BEFORE the noun. In Thai the noun comes first, so you say "fai deang" or "dek-chai chalaat" but we say "red light" or "smart boy". So you must say cow potatoes not potato cows!!

She looked at me like I was crazy. Obviously my anxiety about agricultural serfdom was showing. Thun was listening, though. He loves to learn English.

So I spent today in the blazing sun planting cassava. Of course, being a city boy, the first row I planted was wrong. The 20 cm pieces of cassava plant just looked like sticks to me, so I just stuck them in the ground. Poo's brother pointed out that you must look carefully for the little bud-nerds that will sprout from the joints and make sure they're facing up.

Uh-oh: I hope he said "up", not "down."

What happened to my life?? I used to be a couch potato--but now I'm farming cow potatoes?!?