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A to Z of Anansi the spider.
So, did you survive the first week? Are you ready for week two? Then let us being!
Food figures prominently in the Anansi stories. Why? If you think about it's really very simple.
The Anansi stories belonged to the slaves. The slaves, after working all day, most of them in the fields, returned to their huts and had to work their own small plot of rocky ground in which they grew things like pigeon peas (gondules), okra, and kalaloo (a green used like spinach), to off-set what meager supplies the plantation owner might provide. They also fished, raised chickens, and foraged for various tropical fruit. Sounds pretty good, but the weather is fickle in the tropics. Droughts were not uncommon. So were floods, and hurricanes. And, in those bad old days, so were epidemics like cholera, yellow fever and small pox which could decimate the population, making even more work for those who survived.
Hunger and famine were constant companions to the slaves.
Thus, a LOT of Anansi stories have to do with finding and eating food. In many cases the stories are about catching and eating someone. When you're hungry all the time, food becomes the main topic of interest.
F is also for Fiddle Why? Because the fiddle is what the music loving Anansi plays. He will play for food. He will play for money. He will play to trick you out of something. And, he will play just for the sake of playing.
So, did you survive the first week? Are you ready for week two? Then let us being!
F is for Food
Food figures prominently in the Anansi stories. Why? If you think about it's really very simple.
| Mangoes and hibiscus at Gladys's Cafe, St. Thomas. |
The Anansi stories belonged to the slaves. The slaves, after working all day, most of them in the fields, returned to their huts and had to work their own small plot of rocky ground in which they grew things like pigeon peas (gondules), okra, and kalaloo (a green used like spinach), to off-set what meager supplies the plantation owner might provide. They also fished, raised chickens, and foraged for various tropical fruit. Sounds pretty good, but the weather is fickle in the tropics. Droughts were not uncommon. So were floods, and hurricanes. And, in those bad old days, so were epidemics like cholera, yellow fever and small pox which could decimate the population, making even more work for those who survived.
Hunger and famine were constant companions to the slaves.
Thus, a LOT of Anansi stories have to do with finding and eating food. In many cases the stories are about catching and eating someone. When you're hungry all the time, food becomes the main topic of interest.
F is also for Fiddle Why? Because the fiddle is what the music loving Anansi plays. He will play for food. He will play for money. He will play to trick you out of something. And, he will play just for the sake of playing.