| Tobaski |
February 2004
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Tobaski was interesting. Your formerly vegetarian daughter has entered the meat-eaters' world in a big way. After joining the whole village to pray
under a big tree by the road, we gathered in the Imam's front yard to watch them slaughter the first ram.
I spent ALL MORNING helping to butcher, skin, and cut up the 3 goats we killed for our compound. Each of my host-parents gave me a pile of meat- one from my father, one from each of my 2 mothers. |
My "good" mom, to show how much she appreciates my presence here, honoured me by giving me the goat testicles. Oh gross. |
 All morning I heard nothing but the death cries of goats and sheep. The smell of blood was thick in the air. It was eerie to watch chickens fight over the puddles of blood and scraps of bone... I had no idea they were such a bloodthirsty species. |
 For 3 days people did nothing but cook and eat meat, parade around town in crispy new clothes, and brew attaya. It was a strange, strange holiday. |
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I spent a lot of time with my sister who was back from her 10th grade boarding school... it's funny because she and her friends are probably the closest thing to my "peers" here (they're all 17/18ish). |
Gambian women my own age are already married with 3 or 4 children... but hanging out with my sister and her frineds, I really felt like I was back in 7th grade again. |
The woman on the left is Ndey, she was being a ham. She's my sister-in-law, I guess. She's the inherited wife of my brother Yusupha, mother of 5 children including Kumba and Hunta, who you hear lots about from me. |
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I went to a disco party held in the nursery school building, and spent a lot of time waiting for girls to preen themselves. I have surprisingly little patience for that kind of stuff these days. |
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There were also a couple of deaths in the village right around Tobaski (a 20-something boy I had never met, and the husband of one of my sisters), which made the holidays hard on almost everyone. | |