sheep mass murder day!

i sincerely apologize for not posting more. really limited internet access these days. but it's ok because you guys probably dont even notice anyway. but november has been a pretty busy month. i think i'll be writing 2-4 blog posts at once so i'll let pictures do most of the talking.

forewarning: there are some gruesome images in this blog post. killed sheep. sheep guts. body parts. scroll ahead if you dare.

tabaski!

what a lovely holiday. i think i wrote about it last year but here's just another reminder. (plus, my camera was broken this time last year so finally some pictures!) muslims celebrate tabaski in commemoration of god asking abraham to sacrifice his son and right before abraham fully commits, god substitutes a sheep for his son. abraham has done his part showing his devotion and obedience. so now once a year, millions of sheep around the world synchronize their massive death. and really, i mean millions. google it.

the family has been feeding this guy and keeping it pseudo immobile for the past 9 months now. 

children (and adults) walk around throughout the day greeting each other. asking each other for forgiveness. and asking god to keep the world going so that they can celebrate tabaski again next year. and the year after. and on and on. 

last minute, my sister decides 1 sheep is not enough so she brings out another. we're killing 2. which i really think is excessive. there are only 14 people in my compound. 2 full sheep?! death...

my sister is frying up some potatoes to get ready for breakfast... at 12pm

everyone dresses up for tabaski in their new clothes. they look good. and since everything is so new, the material is super stiff so it sounds like a garbage bag when you walk. 

the kill...

you then dip your finger in the fresh blood and give yourself (sorry for not being pc) something that looks to me like a hindu dot. it's supposed to bring good luck.

and now the sheep are being prepared to become eatable meat. it's quite interesting to watch your food being processed. it brings a new meaning to "fresh" meat for one. but two, to see where everything you eat comes from, to watch it being killed, to watch it being dissected... it's fascinating but i dont know, got kinda turned off by red meat. (i was definitely so by the end of the day... more on that later)

post skinning...

removal of innards and separating out the edible parts and the nonedible parts. liver and kidneys and heart... yummm (sarcasm)

the fat is also all saved. it's grilled later on and i must say... grilled pure fat is kinda tasty. weird

squeezing out shit from the intestines. cleaning the intestines later. sausage anyone?

my brother is grilling a testicle. he says they are delicious.

pre-breakfast grilled meat = 1pm (the day starts much later as you can obviously see. everyone has fasted since morning while preparing the food.)

breakfast of more meat = 2pm. i added the touch of pickles and olives. made the meal more special.

every part gets eaten. nothing gets wasted. a great facet of this culture. the head is... not as bad as i thought it would be. but the way they prepared it wasnt so great. luckily it was dark that night so i didnt see much of what i was eating. otherwise, maybe i wouldnt have eaten it at all.

lunch of... oh look! more meat! = 5pm

im extremely impressed by the amount of meat people can consecutively consume here. 2 full sheep. that's a lot of meat. we were eating it for the next 2 weeks actually. think 14 consecutive lunches and dinners all with sheep meat. and that's why in retrospect, i hate tabaski. too much protein overload.

my sisters looking pretty.

this was the outfit i donned that day. (i borrowed it haha). eating dinner at 9pm. surprise! you know what i had for dinner...

so that was the holiday...