TÅYA' SAPÅTOS

Life after the Japanese Occupation, needing shoes.

A story told to me by an elderly lady about the value of shoes during the war :

Annai på'go man hålom i Chapanis ya ma håtme Guam,
(When the Japanese first came and entered Guam,)

onse åños ha' yo' edåt-ho.
(I was just eleven years old.)

In chile' todo i siña ya man hånao ham para i lanchon-måme giya Leyang.
(We took all that we could and went to our ranch in Leyang.)

Dos ha' sapatos-ho gi tutuhon. I sapatos-ho ni hu na' sesetbe para i eskuela
(I had only two (pairs of) shoes in the beginning. The shoes I used for school)

yan i zore'-ho, zorin goma.
(and my zori, rubber zori.)

I finene'na problemå-ho hu susede annai diddide' åntes de man måtto ta'lo i Amerikåno.
(My first problem that I experienced was a little before the Americans came back.)

Esta yo' katotse åños ya i patås-ho esta ti siña ha håtme i sapatos-ho sa' dumångkulo yo'
(I was already fourteen years old and my feet couldn't fit my shoes because I had grown.)

Hu sungon ha' i dinikkike' i sapatos-ho para un tiempo lao en fin esta ti siña hu sungon
(I endured the smallness of my shoes for a time but at last I couldn't endure)

i minafñot i sapatos-ho. Puti puti magåhet i patås-ho.
(the tightness of my shoes. My feet were really really hurting.)

Hu nå'e ha' i mås påtgon na che'lu-ho ni sapatos-ho lao tåya' otro para guåho.
(I just gave my youngest sibling my shoes but there were no other (shoes) for me.)

Tåya' nai tienda. Pues i zore'-ho ha' siña hu na' setbe.
(There were no stores, you see. So I could only use my zori.)

Un dia, fana'an Hunio na mes este, uchan na ha'åne ayo, desde i ega'an asta i pupuenge.
(One day, perhaps in the month of June, it was a rainy day from morning till night.)

Ha tågo' yo' si tatå-ho para bai espia si ti'an-måme ni sotteran biha ni eståba na sumåsaga
(My dad told me to check on our auntie who was a spinster who was living)

guiya ha' na maisa gi lancho-ña. Fache' todo i lugåt nai maloffan yo' ya sulon yo' gi fina' hoyo
(by herself at her ranch. It was all muddy where I was going and I slipped in something like a ditch)

sa' duro duro i ichan. Malingo i zore'-ho gi halom fache' ya sige de hu espia lao ti hu sodda'.
(because the rain was so hard. I lost my zori in the mud and I kept looking but could not find it.)

Ai, sa' desde ayo tåya' håfa sapatos-ho. Ti påyon yo' sumin dodoga ya puti ta'lo i patås-ho
(Oh, because from then on I had no shoes at all. I wasn't used to wearing no footwear and my feet hurt again)

kololo'-ña yanggen mi acho' i lugåt pat chålan.
(especially if the place or road was full of rocks.)

Despues, annai man eståba ham Pigo' na "camp," må'pos si tatå-ho ya ha bira gue'
(Later, when we were at Pigo' camp, my dad left and came back)

yan un påt sapåtos para guåho. Ti hu tungo' måno na ha sodda', ya ti hu faisen.
(with a pair of shoes for me. I don't know where he found them, and I didn't ask him.)

Komo gagaige ha' mohon si tatå-ho på'go bai sangåne gue' na hu sen agradese na ha soda'e yo' sapatos-ho.
(If my dad were only here now I would tell him that I really appreciate that he found me shoes.)

THE RUBBER ZORI

Japan's gift to the Chamorros

Good for the tropics, but treacherous in the mud