And a Merry Christmas to You

When people ask me what was my Christmas like in Senegal, I may omit the fact that one of the first things I did that day was to break down crying in front of my host family. It was a very pitiful and pathetic sight. I kept asking for the phone—in English—as the tears streamed down my face because it seems when I’m upset I can only speak English. They couldn’t understand me. Finally I was able to get my message across and I called my home and managed to stutter a Merry Christmas to my mom before hanging up because the phone was so staticey and I was so emotional that nothing else could be said.

Once off the phone they asked me what was wrong and I could only reply, “C’est Noel,” to which they burst out laughing at me.

They just didn’t understand how important the day was to me. But I’ll try to break it down for you so that you can understand exactly what was on my mind and why I cried.

1) Like I told them, it was Christmas. I missed my family terribly. The thing is that that is a very powerful statement to make because after my senior year of high school I have tried my hardest to stay out of SC and it seems that I have succeeded. I went to college in DC and now I’m in Senegal, very very far from SC. But in DC I could always come home for the holidays and here I can’t. It seems that whatever it was I didn’t like about my homestate, has dissipated. And I just want to be home with my mom and my dad and my little brother.

Thanksgiving was hard enough; I have never felt such a strong desire to visit my Grandmother’s house in the backwoods of Georgetown County. All I wanted was to eat dinner with my entire family- my aunts, uncles and cousins, to laugh and to feel the togetherness shared between those of my blood. Now I know that people here have done their best to make the holiday enjoyable, but it’s just not the same. And I miss my aunts’ cooking.As the holiday season progressed, it just got even harder for me. Now I’m not saying I want to stay permanently in SC, but I know I need to be there around the holiday season.

2) Throughout my experience in Senegal I have realized that Senegalese people love holidays and when one of their holidays comes around they are very extravagant in the way that they dress and in what they do. Korite comes—we have a large feast, we get dressed up and we visit others so that everyone can see how fly we are. Tabaski comes, it’s the same thing and we even kill a goat. But when Christmas comes, people party the night before and do absolutely nothing that day. And for me it hurt because Christmas is my holiday that I celebrate in a grand way because it’s important to me as a Christian. I thought that Muslims viewed Jesus as a prophet and if that’s the case to me, they gave Him absolutely no respect. Some people cannot even tell me why they celebrate Tabaski but everyone knows Christmas is the day Jesus’ birthday is celebrated and nobody cared. I guess He’s just not important to them after all. But what made it worse is that I partied the night before with them. I told myself I wanted the Senegalese experience, but as that night progressed at the club I began to have a moral complex about it. Why was I even out? And it was my first time at the club.

3) I didn’t have a clean towel and I needed to take a shower. I don’t understand why there are not extra towels in the house or why my towel is not clean. Why are there no washing machines?????

And so that’s why I cried. I celebrated Jesus in my own private way, but at the time I was still very unhappy.

Now I recognize that there are some terrible memories that people have around the holiday season and my memories haven’t been bad they just haven’t been what I wanted. But I can honestly say if I compare my holidays seasons together, this has hands down been the worst holiday season in the history of my life.

Rudolph

Who thought that it would be so hard to teach the song, "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer?" It has been a song I've known since childhood. But when you teach a class full of francophone 10 and 11- year-olds who have never heard of Rudolph and don't really celebrate Christmas, it can become quite a task. But they surprised me and I am very proud to show this video of my class singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" this past Friday. It was the highlight of my day.

Tabaski Pictures

There's Blood Everywhere!!!! My First Tabaski

So Tabaski has come and gone, and today we get one more day to chilax until back to school tomorrow (thank God!) It was quite an interesting day.

In the morning the men went to the mosque and the women stayed to clean. There was much cleaning. So after I stopped being lazy I got up and began to help with the cleaning. We cleaned EVERYTHING. The floor upstairs is really large. I mopped it and the stairs and the outside stairs which doesn't even make sense to me because they're outside and they get dirty again sooo fast. After that Madame Ndaw said I could take my shower and when I opened my door I noticed this outfit on the bed. I was like omg look at this outfit! It was just there, laying on the bed waiting for me. That was one of the best things ever. So I took a shower and put it on then had breakfast. As I was eating, near the back door, I noticed some commotion happening outside and I looked up and saw the goat standing on its hind legs. I was like, "oh snap, it's time!" And I freaked out and ran towards the front of the house. Then I heard the kids around the house yelling and I started yelling a little. The backdoor opened and it was Yankhoba, restraining the dog on a leash. That's why there were scared. Turns out they aren't really scared of the killing of the goat. They see it every year but I couldn't watch the actually killing. I peeked outside from the living room and could see that there was blood every where. My little sister Aida was just watching them on the couch like it was a tv show. I tried to go sit in my room but eventually little Mohammad came and pulled me outside. That little boy is sooo bad.

Madame Ndaw and the girls were cutting up vegetables on one side of the back outside area while the goat was being skinned on the other. I didn't think it was right but I sat down to help make the seasoning, then cut up some cucumbers and potatoes. I couldn't help but think how delicious it was going to taste when it was all done. I tried not to look while they skinned and cut up the poor animal, except to take a few pictures...

First around 12 we had a snack of smoked ribs and fries. Really delicious I have to admit. I had a bit of liver too and I have to say I've never eaten liver before because I didn't want to, but I find myself doing so many new things here, and I liked it.

Around 2 or 3 we had lunch, goat with fries, onion sauce and bread. The first part of the day is all for family. After 5, you put on your very expensive tailor made Tabaski outfit and visit friends. One of my good friends here came to see me and I went with him to visit his aunt, then we went to the Kanes residence and finally to his house where we spent the rest of the evening.

It was overall a good day. Check out the pictures on the next post!

Tabaski Preparation

Today the streets will run red with the blood of hundreds of goats who will be slaughtered as a symbol of Abraham's sacrifice. Yes, the bleating of goats was heard all yesterday and it will be heard all morning, but all at once, in one moment it will stop. And we will eat...

It's Tabaski time!!!!!!

Tabaski is the holiday that celebrates Abraham's commitment to God by his willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac. (Some say it was his son Ishmael). Just as he was about to finish the deed, God stopped him and he saw a ram caught in the bushes so sacrificed that instead. It's a very big deal here. There is much feasting and people will be dressed in fantastic wonderful clothing. Now I couldn't afford the expensive material and the tailor so my outfit will not look quite like that.

I did however, find myself caught up in the materialism/commercialism that overshadows all holidays, no matter how pure they start. Tabaski is two days after Thanksgiving, and coincidently though I wasn't in America, I still had a "black Friday." We went en ville (downtown) to go shopping for shoes and for the life of me I could not find the perfect pair. Well, I did but I wasn't willing to pay 10,000 CFA for them. My budget was 3,000 CFA so you can see the 7,000 CFA difference. It was so sad. We went en ville, somewhere else and somewhere else and I just could not find the shoes at a price I wanted so I went home upset and angry because my outfit is not going to be fly with the perfect golden shoes and my outfit is not grand and excessive.

Now why should I care so much about a holiday I've never even heard of much less celebrated before I came here three months ago (it seems so long)??? Because universally, Christian or Muslim or whatever, I like to look fly and I don't know many people who don't. And when in Rome do what the Romans do.

But I suppose I can appreciate the religious value of Tabaski. I mean I do believe in Abraham and that he almost sacrificed his son--Isaac--for God. Actually made me wonder why Christians don't celebrate Tabaski. Well, it's probably best we don't, because I already have to worry about finding the perfect outfit for Easter, I don't need another holiday to do that to me when I go back to the states. :)