After I was back home I took part in the festivities going on within my family compound. I mainly watched and enjoyed doing nothing all day long.
December 8, 2008: The girls outside my room eating the bon bons that I got them and showing off their new tabaski dresses. Tres Jolie!
December 8, 2008: Dodo stops by to say hello and show off his dashing suit. Later that evening when Adissa and I went for our promenade Dodo insisted that he come with us. He then fell asleep while he was walking and I had to carry him home in my arms, with Adissa telling me not to. Ohhh Dodo!
December 8, 2008: Hours later before an evening of walking around the city and saying hello to friends and dancing until 5am. The women prepare themselves for going out. All the women come to Miriam to get their hair done.
December 8, 2008: The kids hanker down to eat very African style from a communal plate and with their hands.
December 8, 2008: Here is my feast, and I really do not know how they expected me to eat all of this. I was so happy to have chicken for the first time in 2 months though and devoured it with my fingers.
December 8, 2008: The women serve up the rest of the meal. Look at that HUGE pot of rice, wow.
December 8, 2008: It must be universal that men like grilling meat, haha. My host dad’s brothers sit around and watch the meat grille. Most of his brothers came up from Ouaga to celebrate Tabaski with the family.
December 8, 2008: The courtyard is separated between sexes. The men crowd around and are in charge of the meat while the women are in charge of everything else. In some families holidays are the only times of the year that they are able to eat meat. The men have taken the skin off of the mutton and it now hangs to be carved and divided up. The women wait for the intestines, yummy.
December 8, 2008: The market is really crowded as everyone quickly buys his or her vegetables and spices for tabaski.
December 8, 2008: Adissa is perusing the line of vegetables that are before here. This is how you buy produce of any kind in Burkina Faso. Women sit side my side and sell the same things and compete for customers.
December 8, 2008: Ouahigouya’s market is lively as all of the women and families converge to buy their produce for the tabaski dinner. Since I am in a city there is a market everyday, however today the market closes at noon for the holiday.
December 8, 2008 My host dad Aly with the two goats that would be sacrificed in the next couple of minutes. I did document the sacrifice but I will respect that some people would not want to visually see the actually sacrifice. For me I could only watch one of the goats getting sacrificed, after that I was done. It is rather sad watching another living being die. None of my family actually does the sacrifice, for tabaski you actually have a friend of the family come and sacrifice the mutton. They say a prayer over the animal before they slit the throat.
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