Bigyay Bra Spayda

Bra Spayda (Brother Spider) is a character in many Krio fables. He tries to get everything for himself (usually food) and thinks himself very clever, but he winds up with nothing. Today, we had to turn in a story about Bra Spayda for our Krio lesson. My teacher (Violet), my neighbor (Abdul), Bakarr, and Kathy all laughed, so I’ll count it as a success. Here is the story I wrote (with an English translation following):

(Krio uses some vowels we don’t have in English, so I will approximate the best I can.)
Bra Spayda get et pikin. Wan tem di pikin tel am “Wi angri! Ples go ton foh bred. Wi go day o!”

Bra Spayda go ton. Di makit uman de sel fo smohl bred en wan jayant bred. Bra Spayda i tink i need di jayant bred foh di pikin bikohs na behs at ohl. I aks di makit uman ohmos i de sehl i jayant bred. Di makit uman se ne Le 18,000. Bra Spayda i get Le 100. I aks di makit uman foh sel in jayant bred foh Le 100. I se “Noh. Mi smohl bred na Le 100.”

Bra Spayda i want ohltin di jayant bred. I se i kin dans foh di jayant bred. I se i kin johmp foh di jayant bred. I se i kin krak jok foh di jayant bred.

Bra Spayda i dans foh di makit uman. Ma kow i bai tu smohl bred. Bra got i bai wan smohl bred. Sista Pus i bai wan smohl bred.

At midulnet, Bra Ohkpohloh i bai di jayant bred. Bra Spayda luk foh di smohl bred but i noh si natin. Bra Spayda i waka go no os with noh bred bikohs i get bigyay.

Now, the English translation:
Brother Spider had eight children. One time the children told him, “We are hungry! Please go to town for some bread. We are going to die!”

Brother Spider went to town. The market woman was selling four small loaves of bread and one giant loaf of bread. Brother Spider thought he needed the giant bread for the children because it was the very best one. He asked the market woman how much the giant bread cost. She said it cost 18,000 Leones. Brother Spider had 100 Leones. He asked the market woman to sell the giant bread for 100 Leones. She said, “No, 100 Leones is the price of my small bread.”

Brother Spider only wanted the giant bread. He said he could dance in exchange for the giant bread. He said he would jump for the giant bread. He said he would tell jokes for the giant bread.

While Brother Spider danced for the market woman, Mother Cow bought two small loaves of bread, Brother Goat bought a small loaf, and Sister Cat bought a small bread.

At midnight, Brother Frog bought the giant bread. Brother Spider looked for the small bread but saw nothing. Brother Spider walked home without any bread because of his big eyes (his greed or gluttony).

Stay tuned for Kathy’s Bra Spayda story…

Bathing in Pig Water... Big Mistake!

As the rainy season comes to an end in Sierra Leone, water is very valuable. In fact, when it rains, we (as well as the neighbors who share our "compound") run outside with our buckets and containers to collect the runoff from the roof.

Although there is no recycling program in Sierra Leone, they practice the ultimate in recycling - almost every container is reused somehow. In our garage, we have large containers that used to hold vegetable oil and are now currently filled with water. In preparation for the team from Albany, Oregon, we were concerned about the amount of water we'd need. So Bakarr told us about and purchased three large plastic "barrels" in which to store larger quantities of water. These barrels are used to import pigs' feet to Sierra Leone. We were fairly confident that a thorough cleaning would make these ideal containers for storing water. Uh, wrong!

Kathy was the first to take a "bucket shower" using water from one of the barrels. The water had a very unpleasant smell. I had the misfortune of using the "pig water" for a shower the next day, after the water had ample opportunity to "stew" in the barrel and soak up more of the distinguishing odor. Yuck! Yuck! Yucky! Think about pouring a scoop of stinky water over your head and using it to wash your hair and body... I'm grimacing now just recalling that "cleansing" shower.

Kathy and I were determined to come up with a use for the stinky "pig water" - it couldn't be used for bathing, laundry, dishes, or drinking. How about for flushing the toilets? We thought we had it but laughed about the smell of the water rivaling whatever was needing to be flushed...

We still have a barrel of the "pig water" left in the garage. Neither of us is brave enough to open it and use it. The last time we opened an empty barrel, we decided against having it filled with "clean" water (a relative description) because the smell from the empty barrel made us both gag. It really is that gross! (And we bathed in it!)

And since we're on the subject of bathing, since I've been in Sierra Leone, I have bathed:

• by candlelight
• in "pig water"
• from a bucket of warm water (ahhhh!)

Definitely not experiences common to my life in the US! But as our neighbor, Abdul, told Kathy the other day, "Welcome to Sierra Leone!"