So after the Sphires, we parted ways to make it back in time for the Islamic holiday of Tabaski. Knowing I would not have time to make it back to my village, I coordinated to go to Ian's Jaxanke village, Missirah Dantala. I would have limited ability to communicate, but I hadn't made it out his direction yet, so thought it'd be fun. After hiking our bikes down a treacherous rocky path, we biked the 40km bush paths to his village in the heat of the day. We were welcomed warmly by his huge family. My compound consists of two families (brothers and their immediate families) totaling 15 people whereas Ian's family includes about 130 people. It was really interesting not only spending time in a Jaxanke village (a different ethnic group than the Pula Fuuta's I live with), but also with a man on the holiday. Rather than helping cook like I did on Korite, I walked around greeting many people with a large group of men. Also, his village is much larger than mine, so the greater scale was cool to experience. After walking to morning prayer (following a drum, men in front, women in back), listening to readings of the Koran, I watched his family slaughter 18 sheep (his family only! CRAZY, his father is also the chief of the village) and then rested. I ate a big lunch at the chief's house but was not allowed to go to the mosque for afternoon prayer. I enjoyed grilled meat throughout the day, and mango hard candies. The following day I ended up biking to Saraya (48km) since transportation I wanted to take out was not running because of the holiday.
Path
Walk to morning prayer
Koran reading under sheets
SLAUGHTERING
Ian & myself
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