CHIONE MAGAZINE Issue Three 'The Village' | Page 19

My name is Kalhiya but everyone calls me Kaya. This is the story about how I changed my outlook on what a village is —metaphorically. My family and I are world-schoolers which means we travel around the world experiencing the diversity in foods, cultures, arts, and people. We had been traveling for a year and a half when I made my discovery. At the time we were living in a cabin on a fig farm in Bentong, Malaysia. Our job was to farm figs for in exchange for free food and living quarters.

VILLAGE

Everyone that lived on the farm followed the same camp work routine. Wake up at 7 o’clock, work until 12 o’clock, take a three hour break, and end the work day at 5 o’clock. It took a while for me get adjusted to going to bed early as well as waking up early. Thankfully I adjusted fairly quickly. After the first day I began getting acquainted with the other volunteers on the farm. At the time there were eleven males and eight females including my family members.

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