Overall, we think our visit with our neighbors for Tabaski went well. I will describe what went on but it hard to put into words the internal wrestling we had the whole day about what we should talk about with them, how should we act, etc. For instance, is it ok if we watched them work, were they asking if we wanted to eat with them out of courtesy or because they didn’t know what to do with us or did they really want us to eat away from them? We don’t think we offended them in any big ways at least because we still are welcomed into their home and we still visit with them there. Praise God for that. We are praying that we will continue to be a light and witness by our actions and that this friendship will continue to grow. Below is the description of the day.
On Tabaski, we walked across the street to our neighbors home and walked in the open door way without knocking. Oomee came and brought us into her living room and told us to sit. The TV was on and she left us there for a while. We weren’t sure what to do. Then Oomee came back and we went out in the hallway. In the hallway her mom and aunts and cousins were getting their hair done. (Adding weave with string and needle to their hair). The men were in their two small courtyards that had no roofs and had tile walls and floors. They were skinning, gutting and chopping the sheep in pieces with axes, knives and machetes. It was a messy process. Blood was all over the tile floors of the house as they were bringing the meat to various places to be washed, seasoned, boiled and grilled. We spent most of the morning wandering back and forth watching them as they cut the meat, cooked the meat over little grills and as they prepared salad, onion sauce and french fries in the kitchen. The family was snacking most of the morning on the different pieces of meat they were cooking. The piece they gave me was actually pretty good just a bit salty. I also was given sheep liver to eat. It was seasoned nicely but the texture totally got me. But I got it down without gagging, Praise God! We were invited to sit down to eat with Oomee in her bedroom while her family ate in the hallway. Initially she was going to eat with her family and we were we all going to eat apart from her family. But she asked us if we wanted her to eat with us instead. We said we would do whatever she wanted us to, but it would be nice to eat with her to get to know her better. She came in and we sat on the floor around a big platter full of the food. The platter had lettuce, French fries, baguettes, ribs, liver and onion sauce. After lunch we went home with our kids so they could nap. In the evening we saw our neighbors going out all dressed up in their nicest clothes to visit their friends. The days after Tabaski, there were not very many people around and there was not very many taxis or even buses. Everyone was away visiting in their village or their families homes for the celebration and they did not travel back till the week after. Because of the traveling we saw a bunch of people mob a bus to get on to travel to see their families for Tabaski. The week before Tabaski, on many street corners sheep were sold, but afterwards you could hardly find a sheep if you wanted to buy one. People will spend
$70-$1,000 (USD) on a sheep. It is an obligation if you have money to buy sheep. You don’t buy what you need to eat but you buy the max you can afford. The family we ate with killed four adult sheep. There were 25 people eating that day so there were lots of left overs. Tabaski is like our Christmas in the States – full of tradition and time with family. Families visit each other and friends and you eat a lot of food.