The daily life of Lisu people

Last time I said I came to Lisu school, I saw many sights I had never seen in my life, and my heart was filled with emotion.

When you come to Lisu, you will find that these people are optimistic and simple. They all say that those who enter the barren land are unruly people, but I don't think so. Lisu people are one of the poorest but most honest people I have ever met. This is because they are all Christians, and they strictly abide by the teachings of the Bible. No one in their village does anything that crows and dogs steal, because once someone is found to have done something against the Bible, they will be despised by the whole village and even the whole nation, and in serious cases they may be expelled from the church! If excommunicated, it means that no one wants to associate with him, no one wants to marry him, and he really becomes a marginal person in the club. People here really don't leave the door open at night. Once again, I went out with another teacher, China, for two or three days, and our house was unlocked. When we came back, the door of the house was tied with a rope and the things in the house were intact. I asked Samuel's brother why they did it. My brother told me that they are really "Ha rusu" (pious people).

Their life is really simple. They work at sunrise and rest at sunset every day. During the day, they take care of their own sugarcane fields, and the older children carry bamboo baskets to cut wood and grass (feed pigs), leaving their mothers to cook at home and take care of several younger children. They are happy every day. They like singing and dancing. Every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday night, they will go to church to sing and listen to sermons.

Sunday is the most important day of their week. On this day, they do nothing but go to church and worship three times in the morning and evening. On this day, they will also wear clean national costumes with their own national characteristics. All the villagers carrying small backpack will sing together in the church. They are really talented in music. They don't have a music teacher, but they can sing four songs without rehearsal. They prefer dancing, which is essential in every service. First, children dance on the stage, then young people, and finally old people. Every time they finish singing or dancing, the following people will shout together: "I am so angry" (that is, I am so happy). Although they are poor, they are really happy. I asked them why they were so happy without money. What they say is that happiness or unhappiness has nothing to do with money. Their mentality shocked me.

A few days after I came here, I was in a lot of trouble. To put it bluntly, it is all kinds of troubles caused by language barrier and poor communication. I think the most important thing for me now is to learn as many Lisu languages as possible before school starts, at least to communicate with them simply. So I took Samuel's brother, let him live in our school, and asked me to talk for a few days. My brother agreed and brought me their pinyin book. I was blinded at first sight. I felt that their letters were almost the same. There were more initials and finals than all of us, and each pronunciation tone expressed a different meaning. At first I thought I would never learn, so I was depressed. Here, I want to thank Brother Samuel in particular. He is really patient, constantly correcting my pronunciation, showing me the mouth shape of each word, teaching me a lot of everyday expressions, and accompanying me to do a simple Lisu dialogue exercise. In the end, everything paid off. After a week, I can finally read some of their books. Although the meaning is not very clear, at least I can understand it; I also boldly communicate with them. Although I sometimes make a lot of jokes, my listening and speaking have really improved a lot.

After learning a little about Lisu, I began to sing Lisu songs with them. I gradually like Lisu songs, and singing Lisu songs is also helpful for my pronunciation. I also began to read their fascinating Bible, because it is the core of their national culture. When I gradually talk to them in charming language, what they really see is not my strangeness and distance as a guest, but my intimacy as a person. They often invite our teachers to their home for dinner, which is a great honor for them. Not only that, they will ask us if they can't solve the problem. The teacher became their know-it-all, and they even came to us when they were sick. Haha, what a lovely person.