EID AL ADHA OR TOBASKI 2013 PART FIVE: A DAY OF BLAGGING AND SINGING...

It’s day two and Baddou and Yama and the family are coming back for another go.

Not that it matters because we still have more than enough lamb for all of us.

Mind you, the way people eat out here there won’t be any left at the end of the day and that’s for sure…

As it’s the second day we are expecting all the locals to turn up dressed ‘European’ so this could be fun.

Not the adults, just the children and younger teenagers, and they will still be asking for money…

Oh well, tradition is tradition but if they did that in the U.K. then their parents would all be arrested for sending their children out to beg and Social Services would be doing their level best to take all the children into care…

You ever thought why Social Services are called that ?

I’ve always felt that those letters SS suit them to perfection…

They certainly seem to act like the Gestapo in a lot of the cases highlighted by the newspapers and probably a lot more we are never likely to hear about ?

But this is different.
This is 'Sallybo'.

This is more like it should be.

Well, that’s what I think, anyway.

To be fair they do tend to pick on family, friends and relatives as opposed to the general population but it’s not always the case.

I still remember getting totally ‘mugged’ by the lads who staked out the entrance to the African Village Hotel and clobbered every tourist either going in or coming out.

Ok, fair enough you don’t have to give them anything, but they had made a serious effort and I still think that their cheek added to a little bit of tenacity should have been rewarded.

So… Wash, get dressed, eat breakfast, clean house and compound, do chores (like last night’s washing up…) wash again, get dressed up…

And beg !

I know Mariama and Jalika have plans but I have no idea what as yet ?

The day is just flashing by.

Baddou and Yama will be here in the early afternoon after their family have done the same.

Apparently I am to go over to the local shop and buy a whole bottle of lollipops and a couple of packets of chewy sweets as most of our money has run out ?

Ok, sweets it is.

That’s going to disappoint the local kids, I know that.

Still, they hit us big time yesterday so they’ll just have to lump it.

I did actually film our pair getting ready so if you want to watch it you can click on this link…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHZ-NA5EdlM

Thankfully, Haddy switched to English while I was filming it and so you’ll get the idea a little easier than if she’d stuck to Wolof ?

Then of course Ida turned up, and the triumvirate was complete…

Giggles, Sibo & Little Miss Ali: Blood Sisters

They were out for about three hours and when they came back they shot inside to their bedroom with Ida and fifteen minutes later came out after dividing their ill-gotten gains…

Three hundred and sixty four dalasi each.

EACH ?

That’s over one thousand dalasi which for an afternoon of blagging money from everybody they knew isn’t a bad haul, is it ?

They’d clobbered ‘Tapha Kebbeh and their elder brother Amadou, and then Ida had taken them off to one of her relatives and they had done him over as well.

Everybody they knew had been targeted.

At one point they even got a taxi into Westfield to fleece somebody else.

Christ !!!

You’ve got to hand it to them.

It still makes me laugh just thinking about it.

And Mariama is so plausible…

‘Ten dalasi ? For Sallybo ?  What can we buy with ten dalasi ?   You are rich and we are just children needing pencils for school.  If that is all you have, then please keep it as you obviously need it more than we do...'

And another one hundred and fifty dalasi is handed over…

It seemed to work like a dream.

The kids are happy with it anyway.

Three hundred will get them enough cloth for a new dress, and if they’re not too extravagant will get them a pair of shoes as well.

So that’s alright then.

Baddou and Yama and the kids turn up late afternoon.

They stayed for dinner and then begged-off.

I thought they’d be here for a bit longer but apparently they have things to do ?

Ok, that just leaves us, and thankfully no visitors unless you count Ida and to be honest she might as well be family anyway.

So Mariama and Ida started messing about as they always do, and then this occurred…

I did tell you earlier that they had decided to form a group and sing together, well this is the first time I’d actually heard them do it properly.

Ably assisted by big sisters Awa and Housai’, and my darling wife coming in to do the male part…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFwws-m6uhc
The song is a Gambian folk song and is entitled 'Kai Len Nyu Roti Ten Jor' which roughly translated means 'Let's Go and Fetch Water From the Well'.
If you watch it, then Ida is acting the female part carrying the water and Mariama is acting the male part hoeing the crops in the field.

Well that answers one question…

Yes… They can actually sing together.