Oh Tabask* Sheep:
Do not make a bleat,
Do not even peep,
For you will soon be meat!
~Danielle Bowers
Wednesday was Tab*ski, the Musl*m Festival of Sacrifice. This religious holiday celebrates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son out of obedience to God before God intervened by providing a ram instead. Here in Senegal musl*ms will celebrate by buying sheep, which in Africa look more like goats, to sacrifice and roast. I, on the other hand, celebrated by sleeping in and going to the beach.
For weeks we've seen sheep throughout the city being washed in the ocean, feeding from empty tires laid on the ground as food troughs, being dragged or pushed along the side of the road, and occasionally even stuffed into the trunk of a taxi. This past weekend as I was returning from the missionary ladies retreat in Saly, I saw a few unusual sights. The women around me who have lived in Senegal for more than a year looked on with amusement as I endeavored to catch photos of the thousands of sheep (no joke) being sold in various places along the highway, or the few that were tied to the top of a tanker truck and buses. Unfortunately vehicle was moving fast and my many attempts were thwarted however, I did manage to get a few pictures to share with you.
Yesterday, the girls and I spent our holiday at N'Gor Island, a 2 minute boat ride from the mainland. As we approached the loading area of the beach I saw hundreds of people with buckets in the water and along the shore. I didn't know if they were doing laundry, or just enjoying their day off. As it turns out, they were cleaning the sheep innards in the water. We saw what appeared to be t-shirts being scrubbed but were actually sheep stomachs and skins. Younger kids were also squeezing out the intestines. All this was happening a few feet from where we had to step into the water to board the boat.
A lot of sheep on the side of the road. Unfortunately not the best picture to capture the many, many, many sheep.
A sheep chillin' on top of a bus
A struggling sheep on the side of the highway
Sheep on the beach
Sheep being cleaned along the shore
definitely wouldn't be going in that water after the innards were washed! that's nasty!
ReplyDeletewish i could've been with you at the beach.. instead i was wearing a wool sweater at work. sigh!
miss you!
i feel enlightened. and completely grossed out.
ReplyDeleteHAPPY SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope you're doing something fun today!
I can't believe that no one else has mentioned the POEM you opened this lovely blog with! Oh man, I'm still laughing. "Do not even peep, for you will soon be MEAT!" lol!! That's amazing. I don't even want to know where you pulled that one from.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you have all these crazy stories to tell. You're going to be the coolest/most random 80 year old woman in the seniors home! And I'm going to be the one sitting next to you saying "Tell them the one about swimming in sheep innards!"
Love you loads!
The poem was written by my friend Danielle who lives across the hall. She's an English teacher and writes those kind of things for fun.
ReplyDeleteI guess that's why I couldn't find anything when I googled her :)
ReplyDeleteI think you should be in more of the pictures you post. :) It's hard for me to picture you standing on the beach in that unfamiliar environment!
ReplyDeleteGlad you got away to Saly again for the retreat! Was it the same retreat centre that you posted pictures of last time?