It has been a very long time since the last update … there are many reasons … but ... to not just concentrate on the mishaps of: lack of electricity, no access to internet, a computer keyboard molding and a surge of 300 Volts burning a computer adapter --- All is well !! ...I would like to share the feast that I attended a couple of weeks ago. It was the Muslim feast of the ram – the celebration remembering when God did not let Abraham slay his son but a ram instead.
I was invited by a Muslim friend to the hills of Sabga, to participate in the beginning of the celebrations. First we started at 0900 by a gathering, out in the beautiful outdoors, for prayers and giving thanks to God. Attending were mostly men and small boys, but some elderly women where allowed to attend at a distance. Some men rode to the prayer meet on colorful decorated horses
. Young girls attended, as well, but were only allowed to stand by the cars, way out of the way,watching. I tried to dress according to tradition but compared to the Muslim women, I was no match ;-) but my arms, legs and hair were covered.
Once prayer was over, we marched to the mosque and there I was able to witness great horseback riding and mastery of Muslim horsemanship that I have never seen before. It was so amazing and impressive. Most of the horses that were ridden were quite wild. Riders were greeted with wild applause and cheers, shown great appreciation and admiration for their riding talents in handling the animals.
I was then invited to our host, Jibo’s compound, in the mountains of Bambili. I got to meet his lovely wife that together with the other 15 women of the compound were cooking over an open fire to prepare for the feast of the roasted sacrificial ram. Jibo killed the ram. He had fasted all day and was not allowed to eat until he had sacrificed the ram. Once he did, he ate a small piece of the raw flesh to absorb part of the strength, energy and essence of the ram’s life. The animal was then skinned and cut into the desired pieces. A wooden “grill” was built and the meat roasted. The meat was fantastic and very flavorful, even though I should not of eaten it, I did taste it and enjoyed its extraordinary flavor.
It was a fantastic experience and we immortalized the event with the taking of several group pictures of Jibo’s family, Eva (my housemate),Tim (an agriculture/forestry Peace Corps volunteer near me) and I. It was a fantastic day and experience.
That’s it for now … do not know when I will be able to get back on, but know that I think of all of you and miss you very much.
Until the next time
I was invited by a Muslim friend to the hills of Sabga, to participate in the beginning of the celebrations. First we started at 0900 by a gathering, out in the beautiful outdoors, for prayers and giving thanks to God. Attending were mostly men and small boys, but some elderly women where allowed to attend at a distance. Some men rode to the prayer meet on colorful decorated horses
. Young girls attended, as well, but were only allowed to stand by the cars, way out of the way,watching. I tried to dress according to tradition but compared to the Muslim women, I was no match ;-) but my arms, legs and hair were covered.
Once prayer was over, we marched to the mosque and there I was able to witness great horseback riding and mastery of Muslim horsemanship that I have never seen before. It was so amazing and impressive. Most of the horses that were ridden were quite wild. Riders were greeted with wild applause and cheers, shown great appreciation and admiration for their riding talents in handling the animals. 
Now that's the way to eat! Really nice photos you took. I hope we'll see more soon. Protect that keyboard! :-)
ReplyDeleteSam