Tabaski

For those if you who don't know and are too lazy to look it up, Tabaski is a holiday celebrated by Muslims all over the world but it is only called such in Senegal. It is a celebration and sacrifice in remembrance of God's provision to Isaac when asked to sacrifice his son. Every family who has the financial means buys or raises a sheep to slaughter on this day. In. Our neighborhood in Mboro some families slaughtered as many as 3 or 4 sheep. 

Personally I had a great Tabaski. I was invited to many houses since my host family is catholic. I went to my friend Sarah's for the first meal and spent most of the morning peeling potatoes and slicing onions. After having some garlic barbecued ribs and onions I moved on to Austin's. There I was fed roasted and seasoned sheep with onions bread and lettuce. It was really a treat and I was so grateful for the family graciously letting me eat so much of their food. I was invited to Daniel's family's meal also but they put it in a bowl for me to enjoy later. The rest of the day was filled with digesting and celebrating Austin's birthday with others. 

I had sheep for every meal about 5 days afterwards so I've eaten enough bone fragment filled meat for at least a year. I really enjoyed this holiday. It combines elements from Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Yom Kippur for them. They really look forward to it and really go all out. The whole neighborhood brought my family meat since they did not slaughter a sheep. I'm learning more and more everyday about the traditions and celebrations here. More to come soon!