Around 9am we headed to the big mosque in town. Tobaski prayers are held in the grassy field nearby, because everyone from town can’t fit in the mosque comfortably. I prefer the outdoor setting. Binta (Sonja my new site mate), Bobo, Mariama, and I headed over together. Nene Umu had already left and the rest of the family ‘hadn’t bathed yet’ so they didn’t go. We sat with the women and girls in the back, and as Nene Umu pointed out, we couldn’t hear a word the Imam said.
As they prayed Nene Umu encouraged Binta and me to take photos in front of the women, but we didn’t venture up too close to the boys and men (I’m still not sure of the protocol). Though usually when I think someone is scowling at me for taking pics, they are actually making their most serious face and want me to photograph them. They burst into a full smile when I show them the pictures. So, I think I probably could have walked up next to the Imam and taken a nice portrait shot.
Samba, Abdou, and Musa slaughtered the goat with my knives (thanks for the knife set mom) and then the compound across the street borrowed my knives and id the same. Susana who’s been ‘sick’ for the past 2 months, she’s pregnant but it’s seen as bad luck to talk about it too early, luckily felt better. She’s by far the bast cook in the family. Domada and fouti for lunch!! Domada is peanut sauce and fouti is cous. Like real American style cous. Unlike what we call cous here, which is actually more like bird seed.
I was helping Susana cook when Samba handed me a bowl of meat and said this was for me to cook. WHAT?
‘Oh thanks…’ I took the meant in the back and began cleaning it. By cleaning it I mean making sure all the goat hairs were gone and removing the obvious wood splinters from the log they used as a ‘cutting board.’
Musa grilled the liver first, with oil and salt, delicious. And then Abdou grilled up some of the best meat. I went out to eat some of this, and Samba said “You’re cooking in the back?”
“Yea” (What did you expect me to do with it.)
“Oh here.” And handed me another very large handful of raw meat. Yum!
I took that back cut and cleaned it, poured soy sauce on top and let it all marinate for the rest of the day.
When I cooked it later and served it over pasta, they loved it. I can tell when they like something I make because they don’t say anything until the plate is empty. If they’re telling me “Oh Adama na welli (Oh Julia it’s sweet)” as they eat…no good.
This year I decided to treat Tobaski like Christmas and got everyone in my family presents. I’ve been with the Njie family for almost a year now, and often I bring veggies or attaya (green tea) or sometimes frozen chicken, but no individual presents. SO:
Nene Umu – Guru kola nuts
Samba – white and green stripped polo
Susana – make-up case
Ami – photo album (re-gifted from a package, thanks m&d!)
Musa Njie – attaya cups, saucer, and glasses
Musa Jawo and Abdoulie – Football (soccer ball)
Ousman – athletic shirt and shorts set
Mairama, Bobo, and Sama – matching earrings
James – oops! I’ll get you something next trip jamesy.
Friday, December 3, 2010
My House the Menagerie
Now that rainy season (ndungu) is coming to close and we are eagerly anticipating the cool dry season of Nov, Dec, and Jan everything seems to be making nests and having babies.
When I returned from travelling in Morocco my backyard took a full afternoon to weed. After that I swept away the spider webs and ant hills that had accumulated in my hut. I opened one window and startled roughly 30 crickets. Next I moved outside to remove a hornet’s nest from the other window box.
As the week progressed I enjoyed watching a pair of what looks like house sparrows, but I haven’t found them in the bird book yet, build a nest under the overhang of my grass roof. One morning when I slept in a little later I was awoken by a rooster crowing from the peak of my roof. It only stopped when I dragged myself out of bed and shot it an evil glare from my backyard.
Two days ago I heard mewing. Cats are a common pet of PCVs and a few Gambians, but quickly become a pest as they continue to reproduce. Getting them fixed is expensive and dangerous away from Kombo. The mewing was clearly close to my hut, but I decided not to investigate, because surely the mother cat would move them soon.
The next morning, yesterday, the mewing was clearly very close to my hut. I went outside to brush my teeth and get ready for the day. I looked back at my house. A kitten head poked out of the straw roof and mewed down at me.
From inside I could see it clearly had a nice little hole for itself between the thatch and the sticks. As my family came in to investigate we determined there was not one but two kittens in my roof. I decided to deal with them later and headed into town.
When I got back around 5:30p my host brother Samba was returning from the neighbors with a ladder in tow. As he leaned it against my house he informed me he’s going to get it down. He grabs a long stick and heads up the ladder.
Now, you have to understand cats eat chickens (at least the small ones) and do not have the same household pet quality they have in the States (or Morocco, Morocco has some well fed street cats!). Also, most cats are kind of scrawny and slink around at night, so Gambians are pretty wary of them.
Samba climbed the ladder with the stick and when the curious kitten poked its head out again he swung. He missed the first time but the second swing Mariama yelled “He got one”
“What?”
“It fell in the yard.”
“What?!” I rushed to the backyard to check the kitten’s vitals and see how it handled the fall.
It was a little shaken up, but fine. The other cat ducked for cover in my roofing grass and at this point we realized there were still 2 cats in my roof. So now 2 kittens are hiding in my roof, Samba is precariously walking around on my roof, I’m holding one kitten in my backyard deciding that hitting kittens down with sticks is too much for my American, pet loving conscience; when the new education PCV Sonja arrives to cook dinner.
Sonja is my new site mate. Before my closest site mate was 15km away, now Sonja is in Fatoto with me, 5 houses away. Her first time coming over to cook dinner and here I am trying to convince my host brother to come down and maybe the mom cat will come take the other ones away. After a few more minutes with no success, Samba comes down. Sonja decides she will care for the one kitten that we’ve retrieved and I’ve decided to deal with the other kittens tomorrow.
All in all 4 kittens were in my roof. They made a lovely little hole there for themselves that I can now see the moon through at night and is a wonderful skylight during the day. I don’t think I’ll be so happy come next rainy season, but it’s still several months away.
When I returned from travelling in Morocco my backyard took a full afternoon to weed. After that I swept away the spider webs and ant hills that had accumulated in my hut. I opened one window and startled roughly 30 crickets. Next I moved outside to remove a hornet’s nest from the other window box.
As the week progressed I enjoyed watching a pair of what looks like house sparrows, but I haven’t found them in the bird book yet, build a nest under the overhang of my grass roof. One morning when I slept in a little later I was awoken by a rooster crowing from the peak of my roof. It only stopped when I dragged myself out of bed and shot it an evil glare from my backyard.
Two days ago I heard mewing. Cats are a common pet of PCVs and a few Gambians, but quickly become a pest as they continue to reproduce. Getting them fixed is expensive and dangerous away from Kombo. The mewing was clearly close to my hut, but I decided not to investigate, because surely the mother cat would move them soon.
The next morning, yesterday, the mewing was clearly very close to my hut. I went outside to brush my teeth and get ready for the day. I looked back at my house. A kitten head poked out of the straw roof and mewed down at me.
From inside I could see it clearly had a nice little hole for itself between the thatch and the sticks. As my family came in to investigate we determined there was not one but two kittens in my roof. I decided to deal with them later and headed into town.
When I got back around 5:30p my host brother Samba was returning from the neighbors with a ladder in tow. As he leaned it against my house he informed me he’s going to get it down. He grabs a long stick and heads up the ladder.
Now, you have to understand cats eat chickens (at least the small ones) and do not have the same household pet quality they have in the States (or Morocco, Morocco has some well fed street cats!). Also, most cats are kind of scrawny and slink around at night, so Gambians are pretty wary of them.
Samba climbed the ladder with the stick and when the curious kitten poked its head out again he swung. He missed the first time but the second swing Mariama yelled “He got one”
“What?”
“It fell in the yard.”
“What?!” I rushed to the backyard to check the kitten’s vitals and see how it handled the fall.
It was a little shaken up, but fine. The other cat ducked for cover in my roofing grass and at this point we realized there were still 2 cats in my roof. So now 2 kittens are hiding in my roof, Samba is precariously walking around on my roof, I’m holding one kitten in my backyard deciding that hitting kittens down with sticks is too much for my American, pet loving conscience; when the new education PCV Sonja arrives to cook dinner.
Sonja is my new site mate. Before my closest site mate was 15km away, now Sonja is in Fatoto with me, 5 houses away. Her first time coming over to cook dinner and here I am trying to convince my host brother to come down and maybe the mom cat will come take the other ones away. After a few more minutes with no success, Samba comes down. Sonja decides she will care for the one kitten that we’ve retrieved and I’ve decided to deal with the other kittens tomorrow.
All in all 4 kittens were in my roof. They made a lovely little hole there for themselves that I can now see the moon through at night and is a wonderful skylight during the day. I don’t think I’ll be so happy come next rainy season, but it’s still several months away.
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