#ditax

[senegallife]

Comment: candyincasa said "YUMMY JUICE WITH MATOU!!! #ditax #jus #Senegal #friends #happysunday"  

[candyincasa]

YUMMY JUICE WITH MATOU!!! #ditax #jus #Senegal #friends #happysunday (presso Gorée)

[antwanellygoestoafrica]

We've been eating mutton for the last two days. The food all tastes good, I'm just not a huge fan of grizzly meat. Here's a picture of our spread from Tabaski on Wednesday. Those two big platters are just meat and we had an onion sauce, french fries, and a salad with some vegetables, shrimp, and a mayonnaise dressing. And of course bread. And the ditax juice I've been raving about. 

[antwanellygoestoafrica]

Tabaski!

After the morning of preparing and cooking, we feasted. On mutton. So much mutton. There was also some salad and french fries and an onion and hot sauce. I wasn't a huge fan of the rib meat because it's kind of fatty, but the brochettes, or which-kabobs we made were really good! That being said, mutton is kind of tough in general which is why most Americans eat lamb and just talk about mutton in fantasy novels set in the Middle Ages. ("Boy! Bring me a leg of mutton and a flagon of wine. I'm going to hunt the boar.")

After our feast, Mimi and Rose dressed me, tressed me, and make-upped me like I was a doll. They did the same to themselves and once everyone was ready, we went to visit my Senegalese grandmother (Pape Sow's mother). Everyone gets really dressed up for Tabaski, often having dresses specially made. I just borrowed a shirt and skirt from Mimi and it worked just fine. 

The whole city shuts down and you see quite a few sheep carcasses lying around. It's also interesting how, practically overnight, actually literally overnight, all the street sheep are gone. It's kind of sad when you think that they've all been eater or cooked and stored away, not that they were particularly happy being penned in close together and tied at the legs.

We also got to have jus de ditax today, which is a juice made from the ditax fruit. It's a bizarre fruit and the juice tastes magnificent — like an impossibly natural mix of pear, kiwi, lime, and the briefest hint of mint. It's my absolute favorite. I'm actually drinking another glass right now and chatting with Issa and his friends. They all came over after their own Tabaski celebrations. It's funny when they see me because if they speak English, they try to speak it to me, only they do so in that loud, slow voice you reserve for babies. I always answer in French of Wolof. It's still amusing though.