{"id":3577,"date":"2015-04-03T14:56:25","date_gmt":"2015-04-03T14:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/?p=3577"},"modified":"2015-04-03T15:56:50","modified_gmt":"2015-04-03T15:56:50","slug":"ngalax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/2015\/04\/03\/ngalax\/","title":{"rendered":"Ngalax"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"How<\/a>
How do we celebrate Easter here?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Well let me tell you about it! \u00a0One of the traditions here in Senegal on any holiday is to make stuff for your neighbors and share the holiday with all. \u00a0For most holidays this means making large portions of whatever meal you prepare for that day and sending it out to all your neighbors. \u00a0Easter however has its own special tradition. \u00a0During Easter it is known that all those celebrating the holiday will make a special “drink” called Ngalax to distribute out to all their neighbors. \u00a0Last year I started participating in this with Cecile and this year was no different. \u00a0However I decided that I would be intentional to document the process this year for those who have never had the opportunity to experience it.<\/p>\n

It all began on Monday…<\/p>\n

Monday<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cecile and I went to market early in the morning. \u00a0We bought 20 Kilos of peanuts and took them to the other side of the market where we had them sorted, grilled and then mashed up into peanut butter. \u00a0The process of having them grilled and mashed up was a total of 2 hours, plus it was extended by the fact that we had to wait for the guy who owns the shop to show up. \u00a0While we waited for him we talked to the lady who was there sorting all the peanuts and I caught about 50 percent of the words that passed as it was all in wolof (progress and yet still so far to go). \u00a0After we had our peanut butter done, we bought the other things we needed including..millet, sugar, coconuts, pineapple, flavorings and raisins.<\/p>\n

Tuesday<\/strong><\/p>\n

We used the wind to blow away … hmmm… not sure what the English word is so lets just say whatever was there that was not the millet. \u00a0Then it was laid out to dry.<\/p>\n

Thursday<\/strong><\/p>\n

The real work began. \u00a0Cecile took the millet to the grinders and made it into a flour. \u00a0She then added a little bit of water and then worked it with her hands until it formed small balls. \u00a0It is something they learn here real young as this is the most common traditional dinner served among her people. \u00a0She worked on that for hours.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
This is the millet in flour form after being ground up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cecile<\/a>
Cecile making the balls with her hands<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A picture can’t do justice to the amount of work it is<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sifting<\/a>
Sifting out the small grains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The formed balls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"They<\/a>
They then have to be cooked<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"They<\/a>
Here is a “stove” with charcoal, with a pot of boiling water and the balls on top to cook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The cooked product with the taster close at hand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was put to work sorting Monkey Bread. \u00a0Cecile had gathered the pods from her tree and had already cracked them open and removed the fruit. \u00a0I set to work sorting all the strings out of the fruit so there would be less to sift later.<\/p>\n

\"Me<\/a>
Me and my helper busy at work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Taking<\/a>
Taking out all of these strings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"So<\/a>
So that it was mostly just fruit left<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then I set to work on the coconuts. \u00a0I drained the milk, skinned them and grated them into small pieces. \u00a0Cecile’s neighbor came down and helped us. \u00a0It was a great time all working together.<\/p>\n

\"Skinning<\/a>
Coconut milk anyone?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally I ended the night with sorting the raisins. \u00a0Many raisins still have the stems on them and some have seeds, so we sorted them and took out all the part people wouldn’t want to eat.<\/p>\n

Friday<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cecile woke up at 2 am to put the monkey break in a bucket of water to start soaking. \u00a0I showed up at 8 and the serious work begins.<\/p>\n

\"Cecile<\/a>
Cecile started the morning with re steaming the millet balls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"My<\/a>
My work started with the monkey bread, which has been soaking in water since 2AM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"We<\/a>
We added the peanut butter which helps to get all the fruit off the seeds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Then<\/a>
Then we mix it all together with our hands. A VERY messy job<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Water<\/a>
Water is added to make it the right texture<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Then<\/a>
Then we got all the seeds out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"And<\/a>
And put them off to the side<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Then<\/a>
After that it was the really fine sifter – to get out anything that is left<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"We<\/a>
We then cut the fruit into small pieces<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"We<\/a>
Finally we added sugar, flavorings, the fruit and the millet balls and mixed it all up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the taste testing was done, it was time to take out all the plastic containers we can find and start filling them up. \u00a0The kids then ran them around to different people from the neighborhood. \u00a0Each neighbor, transfers it into a different container and then sends the container back to be filled for someone else. \u00a0Visitors stop by knowing that today is the day that Ngalax will be made and so they find the nearest person who celebrates Easter to make sure they get their part.<\/p>\n

It is a crazy amount of work and so one might ask why we do it? \u00a0There are two main reasons I can think of.<\/p>\n

\"It<\/a>
It is a great time together as a family taking on such a project.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"It<\/a>
It is a culturally relevant way to let the world know that we have something to Celebrate!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I have come to enjoy this tradition even though it is A LOT of work and makes Easter week crazy. \u00a0It is a great chance to connect with our neighbors and to be excited about what we are celebrating. \u00a0This year we have even invited one of our neighbors out to the village with us to eat together on this joyous day. \u00a0You can be praying for us as we continue to interact with our neighbors that our life would be a reflection of the light we have within us.<\/p>\n

\"Happy<\/a>
Happy Easter from us – all the way from Senegal!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well let me tell you about it! \u00a0One of the traditions here in Senegal on any holiday is to make stuff for your neighbors and share the holiday with all. \u00a0For most holidays this means making large portions of whatever meal you prepare for that day and sending it out to all your neighbors. \u00a0Easter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":830,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2545],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3577","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-updates-and-news","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/830"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3577\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}