Tabaski went something like this:
I woke up, showered, watered my garden, ate breakfast, then cut up onions for several hours. Meanwhile, the men woke up before the 5AM call to prayer, got dressed up in their finest, went to the mosque, and came back mid-morning to kill and process 3 sheep. Once laundry pan after laundry pan came back full of sheep parts, us women folk started the seemingly endless process of cutting up all the meat. We sent off a few big hunks of meat via bowls on children's heads to a few people around the village, and cut and cut and cut the rest of the meat apart. My sister-in-law cut out and fried up the liver first- we ate it hot-n-fresh (pretty delicious). Little brother got right to grilling up the ribs (really delicious). We also chowed down zillions of watermelons all day long (America delicious). A huge bowl of freshly fried meat with lots of onion sauce and 'taters came out for lunch, and we made short work of it. We sent out bowls to neighbors and they sent some to us (ours was the most delicious). The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to processing all the meat, organs, intestines, and various sundry sheep parts to be eaten over the course of the next several days. I got dressed up in my most shiny space-age Senegalese outfit in the early evening and walked around to neighbors' houses. A big part of the holiday is asking forgiveness for your sins/wrongdoings over the past year- there's a very specific greeting that people exchange:
-Baal ma aq: forgive me for my wrongs.
-Baal naa la: I forgive you. Yalla nanu Yalla boleen baal: God forgives us
-Amiin: Amen
also:
-Dewenati: May God allow us to celebrate this holiday next year
-Fekkeel deween: We'll celebrate this holiday next year.
-Amiin: Amen
Once I was pardoned for all my wrongs, I came home to eat a delicious dinner of more sheep meat.
Day two: Normal village day, but with lots of guests around, and every house I visited had a group of women gathered around a bucket cutting up sheep parts. The smell was getting stronger. There was also a stick strewn with intestines in all the compounds... feasts to come. We ate rice and sheep for lunch (kind of delicious), then the highlight of the whole thing- millet couscous with brain for dinner. We're not talking about indistinguishable bits here; there was a whole bonafide brain, brainstem, and a few other mystery chunks floating in some greasy grey sauce in the bowl. I psyched myself up and ate a few bites (not delicious in any way). At least it wasn't chewy.
Day three: Escaped to Linguere to welcome our two brand new ag volunteers! A Peace Corps staff member who has family in the area brought us a dinner of sheep with spaghetti and onion sauce (most delicious meat I've eaten in a long time). We even ate some heart (not so delicious).
Subsequent days: I'm hoping to go back to Doundodji tomorrow to find meat-free meals.
Through a series of unfortunate events, my camera didn't make it to Tabaski, but just use your imagination.
