Happy Tabaski!

In Wolof one says Deweneti, or Happy New Year, on the feast of Eid al-Adha (Tabaski in Wolof). (It was yesterday, but so much happened that I didn't have the chance to blog.) This celebration is held approximately 70 days after Ramadan and commemorates when God called upon Abraham to sacrifice his son. Depending on if you're Christian, it was Isaac, son of Sarah, and if you're Muslim, it was Ishmael, son of Abraham's slave, Hagar. The story ends with Abraham sacrificing a ram instead and so Senegalese Muslims buy rams that meet specific standards in order to sacrifice them to God on this day. The rams are not cheap, the smallest ones can cost $400 and the largest ones can go into the $1000s of dollars. Families get into debt around this time of year in order to have a Tabaski celebration. We gave our Muslim night guards some money for the holidays.

The nice part of this holiday is that it is about giving. Charity is one of the pillars of Islam and so on Tabaski Muslims are supposed to give away much of their meat to the poor. Our neighbors invited us over to celebrate with their family. Gusi wasn't interested in the food, just the children. There must have been a dozen of them running around all calling his name. He had a blast.

Yesterday was also the day my mom arrived from the US. She got to the house in time for Gusi's wake-up time. The three of us went into his bedroom but when he heard my mom's voice PapaGus and I became invisible. His arms were outstretched and he had his sights set on his grandma. It was so beautiful.

Even though my poor mom was jet-lagged Gusi didn't let her rest. In fact, he insisted that they take a nap together, which they did. Spoiled? Maybe just a little. But it's the kind that a grandson needs when he hasn't seen his gradma in 4 months.

The rest of her trip should be nice. I'm thrilled she's here and Gusi is exstatic. Now all I need to do now is get ahold of her ticket so she doesn't return.