Baptism

written Tuesday, 26 June 2007

 

 

Yesterday was the baptism of my host sister's new baby.  The celebration lasted all day.   The highlights: the women spend most of the day cooking, talking, and singing traditional songs, while the men are more involved in the ritual, religious aspects: prayers, sacrificing sheep, and naming the baby.  

 

They named her Tigidanke, which is the first time I've heard that name.  Apparently it was the name of some important woman in the history of Islam.   Anyway, it sounds to me a lot like the Jaxanke word for peanut butter, tigo dekko.  So I've started calling her Peanut Butter as a nickname.

 

Since they sacrificed a sheep, we had meat for lunch, approximately one bite per person (plus lots of rice, of course).   I was allotted something shaped like a tube which I suspect was a piece of intestine.  I didn't want to be rude and refuse it, so I ate it.   In case you are wondering: it wasn't as gross as you might think, but I would definitely prefer not to repeat the experience.

 

In the afternoon the baby's head was shaved, which I think is like the Catholic sprinkling of the baby with waterr - it is supposed to symbolize the baby becoming a Muslim.

 

After dinner there was dancing (to cassette tapes on a boom box powered by a car battery), but I didn't stay long because all the "party food" had left me feeling a little sick.