La Fête de Tabaski

I forgot that I have to make sure I get the details right since Assane is reading this (for those of you who do not know him, he’s from Senegal and a friend of mine in Seattle) So a few corrections. La fête de Tabaski involves the sacrifice of a sheep not a goat, and yeah what I called a donkey in one of my first posting is definitely not a donkey. I guess this is a lesson in a foreigner’s perspective…. it’s not always accurate.

I celebrated my first Tabaski! I started the morning by hanging out in the kitchen helping the preparation for the big meal. I cried through peeling all the onions and managed to miss my fingers while cutting the potatoes for the French fries. I did not watch the killing of the sheep, actually was unaware at the moment, but did take a few pictures of the aftermath. During the day I played with the kids and chatted with everyone since there were many visitors, and ate several meals all involving some combination of lamb, yummy onion sauce, and fries.
In the evening everyone dresses up and visits family and friends to say hello, and ask for pardon as the New Year begins for them. I dressed up in a sea green Baobao I had boughten from the market and walked around the neighbourhood with the family to say hello. I loved seeing the streets brightly coloured with everyone in their fancy outfits. This celebration was much simpler than any holiday in the U.S., but the amount of joy and richness was nonetheless greatly present. After drinking the sweet tea that is a must after dinner, the fam and I ended the evening by gathering around Sada’s laptop to look at the photos we had taken that day.

To fill up the rest of my weekend I went to the beach with Bineta. We were running, but that turned into playing in the sand and me being lazy as I just took in the moment of soaking up some sun and watching the waves. I also went out with Cheik. I met his friends/family and then we attempted to go to a club, but it was closed so after wandering the streets for a while in Dakar we ended up at a little hole-in-the-wall game place where I lost several times to him while playing the soccer game on the Play-Station. OH, I went to mass too. It was great; lots of people, enthusiasm and good music. I met a friend too, Natalie, and she lives close to me. After knowing her only from our way back from church, she invited me to her house and introduced me to her family and friends in the area. I really am thankful for this aspect of the culture here.

I had a conversation with Cheik this weekend and I realized that I had forgotten that I’m experiencing life in a developing country. The significance of the term “developing” is unclear in my head. I see life her at different, people make due with a lot less and live in what many people might initially think unsuitable, but I don’t necessarily see it as developed verses developing, it’s different in a way that’s not comparable by these terms.

Alright, I have officially spent 3 hours at work, not working, so I’m about to start. God Bless!