Holidays in the Sun

Well, I can finally cross off one of my life-long goals: eating sheep testicle. I'm not entirely sure if that was on the list to begin with; it certainly wouldn't be higher than say...visit Maccu Piccu or see lions in the wild, but it's at least one less thing to worry about. Last Monday and Tuesday was Tabaski in Niger, which meant the body count for unlucky sheep skyrocketed, much like turkeys in America at the end of November. Like Id al Fitr, which I wrote about earlier, we walked out to the edge of town in our very best clothes and prayed in the morning. Then we came back and feasted untill noon. For this fete every family slaughters a ram, sticks it on a spit, and slow roasts it for the entire day.

It's a fun holiday, a lot like the end of Ramadan, but with even more food, as hard as that is to believe. I stuffed myself to epic proportions, gorging myself on rice and pasta, so much food that I had to sleep off most of the afternoon, just like the last festival. But like last time, and a lot like American holidays, it's fun to see everyone decked out in their nicest clothes, going door to door wishing one another happy new year, drinking tea, visiting, and, oh yeah, butchering a ton of animals. I didn't watch any of the slaughter, but I could hear the screams of the sheep, as all of my neighbors had a sheep to slaughter. I guess the sheep get the last laugh in a way though. Because the meat is so rich and greasy, everyone gets sick the day after. So it goes.

Speaking of turkeys, though, Thanksgiving came and went a couple weeks ago, and I've yet to take the time to write about our Nigerien extravaganza. Everyone on Team Tillaberi made a dish, so there was more than enough food even with people from the new stage. Personal favorites included a very decorative fruit salad, sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows and brown sugar (only available as package food from America), Kate's Derby pie, and the mulled wine.

There will be further updates this week as I find the time. It's swear-in time for the newest AG/NRM stage, my sister stage in country. I'm getting some new neighbors, which will be great; hopefully, we'll be able to reverse the Baleyara cluster "curse," which I might write about more later. For now though, this is a very busy few days in town, with a lot to take care of, a lot of people to meet, and a lot of fun to be had greeting a new stage and saying good-bye to those who are leaving.