Tabaski

Tabaski is a Muslim holiday where all family members get together and celebrate, we had the privilege of being in Jiroff during this time. The excitement was tangible as family members returned to the village from our of town, girls put on makeup and braided each others hair, and the men and boys prepared the animals to be slaughtered. Everyone had there role and played them out seamlessly as they had and their relatives had many years prior. A group of young women and girls sat under the mango tree braiding in their specially purchased weaves. There were many of them and this kind of braiding requires a lot of patience so it was an all day task. I sat with them for a while and watched the men as they brought out four goats and prepared to slaughter them. There were probably near 70 family members in the compound during Tabaski and the rams were to be cooked to feed them all. Right before they did it, my host sister insisted I photographed it so I grabbed my camera and got some pretty interesting shots! After I helped the boys skin the animals and dissect them essentially. I didn't participate to much, I was more of the limb holding assistant. The boys thought it was funny to chase me with various guts and bloody machetes, it was pretty funny. The next step was the cooking. A whole different crew of women (older then the ones braiding) chopped vegetables and meat cooking it in an outdoor kitchen made of mud bricks. They joked and laughed as they cooked sampling little ram bits along the way. As the time got closer to lunch everyone started washing up and putting on amazing complets (outfits). The women's were brightly colored often with jewels and designs stitched on. We ate like kings, the food was great! There were 10 food bowls prepared for the family and 8 people sitting around mine and eating. The bowls were separated by gender and age which was interesting to see on such a large scale. The day continued on with more of the same and the women constantly changed their outfits at various points. I got scolded by my sisters because I didn't have on my African dress yet. As I went home to change Kaddy asked me if I had showered yet and I said yes, then, in front of everyone, proceeded to ask me why my feet were so dirty. So little sidebar about my sisters, they are gorgeous! Like supermodels and are always bossing me around in a joking matter. I think my overall sloppiness is a huge disappointment (my hair for ex) and they are always striving to make me presentable, its great. So, Kaddy then told me to go home clean my feet and come over with a hair brush and my outfit so she could get me ready for the rest of the day. After putting my clothes on me and brushing out my ratty hair she pulled back in a tight pony tail and slicked it back with straight oil. Something that works wonders for African hair, mine not so much. I'm like a life size Tubab doll to them, its pretty funny. The rest of Tabaski was filled with more food, a soccer game between Jiroff and a neighboring team, Saliboo which is the equivalent to trick or treating, attaya drinking and chatting until midnight, and then disco at the elementary school until 4 am. It was an epic Tabaski to say the least and I could go on for hours with details but there is just too much too say! Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures successfully of Tabaski.