Thanksgiving in the village

Written Wednesday, 14 November 2007

 

 

I was in Thies for Easter this year, so I got to learn about a wonderful Senegalese tradition of people of different religions sharing their holiday celebrations with each other.   My host family was Muslim and so they don't celebrate Easter, but Christian friends invited them over for their party and later sent over some of their special Easter food.   And apparently this is a really common thing to do in Senegal.  I think it's a really great way to promote religious tolerance – if everyone gets to enjoy the celebrations of each religion, then the more religions the merrier!

 

Anyway, so I think that is where I got my idea for celebrating Thanksgiving in the village.   I've been thinking about it for several months now, thinking that it would be a much more memorable holiday than just hanging out with other volunteers at the Peace Corps house (although in the end I've decided to do that too, so Thanksgiving in the village is going to be a week before real Thanksgiving).

 

The only thing that was ever really holding me back from committing to the village Thanksgiving plan was cost.   How much would it cost to hold a feast for all my village family and friends?  Answer: about a third of my monthly allowance from Peace Corps, which seems like a huge amount, but in "real life", less than $100.   Not bad.

 

Here's the breakdown for my village Thanksgiving feast of yassa:

 

n     1 medium-sized sheep (alive right now, but it won't be in the morning): $35

n     10 kilos of onions: $8

n     1 bottle of vinegar: $1

n     1 jar of mustard: $1.20

n     2 kilos of sweet potatoes: $1.60

n     2 kilos of Irish potatoes: $2.40

n     lots of pepper: $0.50

n     3 bulbs/heads/whatever they're called of garlic: $0.60

n     2 kilos of carrots: $1

n     20 bouillon cubes (in 2 flavors): $1

n     15 kilos of rice: $8.25

n     5 liters of vegetable oil: $9

n     1 kilo of kola nuts: $4

 

One of my host brothers went to the market to buy the sheep for me, since he is a better judge of sheep than I am, and also could get a better price than I, the "rich toubab" could.   When he brought the sheep home he came over and asked me if I wanted to see my sheep.  I said sure, but as soon as I saw it I realized that was a bad idea because I immediately felt an impulse to name it.   So I told my host brother it was going to make me sad, and I left.  I think he was very confused about my crazy toubab behavior.