"You going to cry??"

(David and Mariama, our neighbor.)

Shortly before we left Sierra Leone, we went to a place called Big Market. Apart from a few small spots along the beach, Big Market is the only permanent souvenir market in Freetown. The bottom floor is crowded with carvings, baskets, and household goods, and the top floor has stall after stall of women selling locally-made items like gara (a tie-dyed fabric) and country cloth blankets.

After a few minutes downstairs, we made our way down the aisle and up to the second floor. We stopped at quite a few stalls, loaded up on batiks, blankets, and precious outfits for the new babies in our lives, and headed back toward the stairs. A woman we hadn't talked to blocked our way and told us to come look at her stall.

"No tenki, we get already. We di go now." But the woman insisted, "You must come see my things."

David said apologetically, "Sorry, we don't need. We don't need. Next time." The woman turned to David and asked abruptly, "Are you going to cry?" We looked at each other, clearly confused.

She continued, "I don't need. I don't need. Are you going to cry??" We laughed awkwardly and walked down the stairs. It took us a moment to realize she was mocking David, to his face.