Farmer: Santa
Santa was taught to farm by her parents in Sudan.
Interviewing team: Mary, Samar, Abdi, Patty, Nick
Interviewer: Where do you live?
Farmer: I live in Portland.
Interviewer: Oh, in Portland? You drive all the way up here (to Lisbon)?
Farmer: Yeah.
Interviewer: Wow.
Farmer: I learned a long time ago. My mom and my dad taught me. In my country. In Sudan.
Interviewer: So is farming a tradition in your family?
Farmer: Yeah.
Interviewer: So your mother and father did it?
Farmer: Yeah, yeah.
Interviewer: Do you have children?
Farmer: I have two.
Interviewer: Will they farm?
Farmer: Yes, they come, everybody come. They say, “Oh mom, hot, hot,” or “I am tired,” or “Oh, hard work.” (She laughs.) You come to work, it’s hard though, work and fun. I think, oh, my god, my back. (She laughs again.)
Interviewer: What kind of plants to you grow here at your farm?
Farmer: Carrots, onions, cabbages, a lot, yes, I plant lettuce, a lot.
Interviewer: A lot of people get groundhogs around here. What animals eat your food here, in Maine? Woodchuck?
Farmer: Woodchuck, squirrel.
Interviewer: Mice.
Farmer: Yeah, animals don’t eat a lot, here.
Interviewer: Did you have animals in Sudan eating your food?
Farmer: Yeah, a lot.
Interviewer: Like what?
Farmer: Elephant, lion, tiger.
Interviewer: What? Wulu! What? On your farm? On your farm? Elephants? Wait, there were elephants on your farm? Did they come eat? Or just come? Did the elephants do work?
Farmer: Yes, they come eat something, and with your friend you come to them and you are going to cry EEEEEEEE! Like that.
Interviewer: Did anyone use the animals to work?
Farmer: They work, in the forest.
Interviewer: But then they could also trample things, like step on everything.
Farmer: Yeah.
Interviewer: Mmm. That’s crazy. What other animals? I like this.
Farmer: Another one, giraffe. A lot.
Interviewer: Monkeys?
Farmer: Monkey, yup.
Interviewer: Monkeys, they come, do they eat out of the garden?
Farmer: Oh, they come eat corn, all. (Gestures all around her.)
Interviewer: Oh, the monkeys eat all the corn? Did you grow bananas and stuff like that?
Farmer: Yep, they eat all.
Interviewer: Sad, I would be so mad.
Farmer: Yeah, when you come and see, you say, “Oh my god, what is this?” (She laughs.)
Interviewer: Did you ever have to deal with like, snakes?
Farmer: Oooo!
Interviewer: You scared, huh. Snakes in Maine?
Farmer: No, no. In Sudan, big, big.
Interviewer: How big, the snakes in Sudan?
Farmer: Like big! (She points at her thigh.)
Interviewer: What would they eat?
Farmer: (She laughs.) I don’t know! I don’t what they eat? I don’t know. (She laughs more.)
Interviewer: She doesn’t stick around to find out. Out of there. Yeah, there’s no poisonous snakes in Maine.
Farmer: In Maine, in the June, sometimes. In Virginia, ooo, snake, lion, elephant.
Interviewer: In Virginia? No.
Farmer: Yeah, but in the park.
Interviewer: What do you think you need to live a good life?
Farmer: Stay together with the family, with the kids.
