Tabaski

Made it to Kayes today after a long, uncomfortable bus ride from Kenieba. It's hard to put into words how unpleasant the trip was, but basically we were crammed in there. There were 7 people to a row, (6 small seats and someone standing or sitting on a water jug in the aisle) all bouncing around as the bus crawled down the dirt road. Needless to say, I'm relieved to be here and enjoying all the room to stretch out!

Anyway, here's the first entry, about the big holiday last weekend.

Tabaski is one of the biggest holidays in Mali. The tradition is for each family to sacrifice a goat and enjoy a big feast. There was a lot of preparation leading up to the big fête… the elementary schools had Thursday and Friday off. Women were getting their hair done a few days before. Friday, the day before Tabaski, was like a huge shopping spree. Matt and Jim had to take out money at the bank, and they said the scene reminded them of a commodities trading floor in the US, people pushing into the office to take out money for the holiday. The market was packed… hundreds of people buying their supplies for the big feast. I bought 2 kilograms of potatoes for my host family as a gift for the fête.

I woke up on Saturday morning, the day of the big feast, to the sound of roosters, motos speeding down my road, and sheep baa-ing. When I was leaving my concession to buy some bread for breakfast, I told my host dad that I was surprised to see the sheep had not been sacrificed yet. He explained that they first go to a big prayer session (I found out later that over 2,000 people were there), and when they get back, it's time to sacrifice the sheep.

So I got ready for the big day, and walked next door to get a front row seat for the butchering of the sheep. I can’t say I have witnessed something like this before, but it was less gruesome than I thought it would be (I conveniently missed the actual slaying). My host dad did a good job taking the insides out and cutting out the good stuff for us to cook and eat. At around noon we ate an awesome meal of tender meat, fried potatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, onions, and a delicious mustard/vinegar/oil sauce to top it all off. It was really good.

I figured that this meal was our lunch for the day, so I asked if I could bring some of the leftover food back for Kalo, since that’s what I usually do after lunch every day. My host mom, Fanta, gave me a strange look and reluctantly put some in a bowl for the cat. Little did I know, “lunch” would be coming at 3 PM! Go figure. It was another delicious meal of meat and bashi, a couscous like food made from corn.

Like at the end of Ramadan, kids from the neighborhood came around to wish my host family and me a happy Tabaski and that I will have as prosperous a celebration next year. Lots of family friends came by as well to say hello and say the various benedictions.

Late in the day, as the sun was setting, I went around the neighborhood and took photos of my host family and my neighbors. They were all really excited about it, as they had their best clothes on for the big fête. All in all, a fun day!

I put up a photo album from the holiday... be warned though, the first few pictures are of the sheep getting cut up, so if you want to skip that, click the first link:
Tabaski 2009 Photo Album (without butchering)
Tabaski 2009 Photo Album (with butchering)

I also put up more photos from a big hike that Matt and I went on in November.