Tabaski weekend updates

So what a weekend it was! Saturday morning, I woke up early to Khady's frantic calls of, "Allison, wake up! They're about to sacrifice the sheep! Get your camera!" so I got dressed speedy-speedy and ran downstairs to find a goat outside our front door, with its throat slit open, and three big, strong Senegalese men holding it down so it wouldn't violently injure anyone in its writhing, thrashing confusion.

So for the next ten or so minutes, I watched them drain most of its blood out of the hole in the neck, and then they carried the body back upstairs, where they then skinned and chopped up the body. Ten minutes or so after that, the first pieces of it were already on the grill, and soon after that, they were passed around for everyone to taste the first bites of this year's sacrifice.

Needless to say, I was a little shaken up and emotional about having watched an animal be slaughtered right in front of my eyes, so I had pretty much lost all of my appetite, especially that concerning grilled pieces of meat from an animal that had lived in our house only an hour or two before.

Maman and Khady kept yelling at me and telling me to eat more, and I was trying to be as polite as possible and pretend to eat the meat, but it just grossed me out ever-so-much. To make me feel better, Khady told me something which was actually incredibly sweet and comforting. She said, "G-d ordered us to sacrifice the sheep. He's in heaven now. In fact, the minute the blade touches his neck, he leaves and goes to heaven." Although I can't say that I share this religious worldview, I understand this belief system and will have to try to think in these terms to justify the slaughtering of 600,000 sheep in Senegal.

One other thing that I liked, is that the word for "heaven" in French is "paradis," which is just so pleasant and reminds me of some island paradise where our sheep is relaxing in a lounge chair, drinking a daquiri. Thus, I will keep reminding myself that he's happy and proud to have been our sacrifice for Tabaski. Furthermore, it was a BIG sheep, so we'll be eating him for days to come. Every day I'm served sheep, I'll just have to say a little cheer of encouragement to myself in my head, as in, "You can do it! Eat the sheep! He died for a good cause!"

With that said, here is a photo update from the weekend.

Here is our sheep in all his glory, pre-sacrifice.


There he is again, smiling. Little does he know that his time is short.

That's the scene of the crime. If you look really closely, you can see one of the sheep's horns in that pool of blood.

Evidence of the sheep's journey upstairs to be hacked apart.

A more pleasant picture of Maman and baby Khady Seck.

Some cute Senegalese kids walking down the street in their finest clothes, for the Tabaski celebration. I took this picture from our upstairs balcony.

One of the chickens that escaped from the pen. I bet he's glad that Tabaski is the feast of the sacrifice of the SHEEP, not the chicken.

So for Tabaski dinner, we went to Maman's sister's house, where they have two twin, 1-week-old sheep that will be eaten for Tabaski a few years from now. Until then, they are just like adorable little puppies that frolic around and do cute things.

Here is a cute Senegalese child in my extended family, with a cute Senegalese sheep in my extended family. Look how adorable the boy looks in his fancy boubou... I love Senegalese clothes!

Me and Ndeye Thioune, my little Senegalese sister. I am wearing my new tailor-made boubou (fabric: 3200 Francs, tailor: 3000 Francs, total: 14 USD), and Ndeye Thioune is wearing a little Moroccan outfit!

Adorable Senegalese children in their darling little clothes.

My new friend.

What a little puppy!

Doing cute things like nibbling on my dress. What a sweet little baby!

Senegalese children.

This is Fanya. She is more-or-less my host cousin, and she and her 4 sisters want me to marry their little brother, Doudou Gueye. Now, whenever Doudou Gueye walks into the room, they chant in Wolof, "Doudou Gueye, the fiance of Aisha Bineta!"

Khady and me after we returned home from a LONG and tiring night (which eventually made me too tired and cranky to socialize).

Khady, Doudou, and baby Khady Seck. What a lovely family.

What made up for all the sheep to be eaten was Ryan coming over to my house and making Kraft Macaroni and Cheese with me. Thank you, Mommy, for bringing the box of Mac N Cheese to Senegal. It was put to good use! And how silly to cook it over a gas grill.

Equally silly to eat it on the floor off of a communal plate, on the roof. However, it was a DELICIOUS meal, and Maman even tasted it. I can't tell if she liked it or was just being polite, but it was really fun to show her our crazy American food, and just plain old fun to escape from eating sheep and get some good comfort food in my tummy!

Alright, that is all for now. Time to do some last minute studying for my Wolof exam today.

More updates to follow!