Sorry Sheep...

Tabaski finally arrived last Tuesday, the much ballyhooed sheep killing holiday. Three sheep were killed at our house in the morning, and right afterward, the bodies are taken up to the roof to be butchered. Moctar was telling me that there is sort of a race between all the nearby houses to be the first one to be finished butchering their sheep, so while we were on the roof, we could see all our neighbors on their roofs and they were yelling taunts about how much of their goat they had butchered already, and were holding up sheep body parts triumphantly. I took a video of the third sheep being killed just so I can show others what the experience is like, but the internet connection here isn't stable enough to upload it, so I will wait until I come home next week to put it on the blog.

At the Vito household, there is usually less blood during our holidays. I mean, there’s always some blood, just…less. I was a bit nauseous after watching the three sheep get butchered, but I did have some of the meat at lunchtime. It tasted ok It was kind of surreal because I had just been petting the happy sheep about and hour and a half before. They use all the parts of the sheep too. The head is used to make a kind of brothy soup and the intestines are turned into a special dish. The skin of the animal can be sold to people who make rugs, drums, and blankets, so I was pleased with the fact that they used all the parts of the animal they killed. Food is prepared about every hour, and all day is spent eating. Friends come to visit and the talibe children in the streets are allowed into the houses to partake in the feast. After my third or fourth meal (in addition to the meat, there is also a lot of onions, rice, potatoes, and olives), I went out with my friend Delaney to visit some other houses, and my bubu (specially made for the occasion) got a lot of compliments from people on the street. That about wrapped up the holiday.

Christmas is celebrated here to a less extent than the US obviously, but the schools are going to be closed. I am coming home next Sunday for the holidays and coming back to Senegal on January 3^rd. I do really enjoy it here, but I am really glad to be going home to see everyone for Christmas. I was teaching my kids some Christmas carols on the guitar, and it’s just not the same singing “Jingle Bells” when it’s 80 degrees outside. Hope to see you all next week!

Here are some more pictures. There are some pictures of the butchered sheep at the end, so don't look past the second picture if you don't want to see it.

Me eating with my host brother and sister and Delaney (Portland)

At the mosque in the morning. Moctar took this picture.

The little ones learn how to butcher from watching the parents.


Edible parts of the three sheep. These are actually the same buckets I wash my clothes in...