GINEN CHÅLAN I PATGON

 

Some of our mañaina (elders) in the past believed that an infant or child could get sick if an adult was so attracted to the child and had the urge to touch or hold the child (magoddai) but didn't carry through with it.

When an adult, or even someone in their teens, liked a baby so much that he or she wanted to touch the baby, he or she should do so, and be allowed to do so, otherwise the baby might get sick.

Parents and others would suspect this was the case when a child suddenly became sick for no apparent reason or couldn't sleep, and cried instead of sleep.

One older lady explained it to me, "Ma espia eyi i uttimo na taotao ali'e'-ña para u ma na' seguro na ha pacha pat ha de'on, sa' magoddai lao ti ma nå'e chånsa, ti ha de'on, ti ha pacha. Ma fa'nana'an lokkue' ginen chålan i patgon, ya nesesita na u ma espia håye uttimo mumagoddai nu i nene, nu i patgon ya u ma nå'e chånsa para u pacha, u kariño."

"They look for the last person the child met to make sure he or she touched or pinched the child, because he or she had the urge to, but wasn't given the chance to pinch or touch the child. It's also called "the child came from the street," and it's necessary to look for the last person who got the urge to touch the child to give him or her the chance to touch or be affectionate with the child."

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

 

MUNGNGA MA FANU'E YANGGEN UNO HA'

Don't show it if there's only one of it.

Why? 

Because you're supposed to share.

So don't even SHOW it exists if there's not enough to share with whoever's in front of you, whether it be just one other person or ten or more.

HIDE it till everyone goes away and you can enjoy your one donut, one empanåda, one whatever.

If you're really starving and can't stand to wait till everyone's gone, take it to the rest room, close the door and munch away.

THE DANGERS OF THE PÅPA' SÅTGE

 

The PÅPA' SÅTGE is the open area under a raised house.

The phrase literally means "UNDER THE FLOOR." Many houses in the Marianas were raised on HALIGI (posts or stilts).

The idea was to let the air circulate around the house and keep it cool. Raising the house kept out flood waters and unwanted animals. The space underneath could be used for storage.

But the påpa' såtge did pose some problems.

For one, somebody could hide themselves in the påpa' såtge. This became a worse problem when the person could find a crack in the floor above, allowing him to peek and invade the family's privacy.

This is what happened one day in 1926 when Alfonso crept under the house of Lorenzo Aguero Sablan. More concerning was that Lorenzo had a teenage daughter living in the house, whose floor had cracks that could be peeked through.

As there were witnesses, and since Alfonso had been found guilty of similar offenses before, he thought it best to plead guilty when he was arrested and suffer the penalty.