Ramadan

On the day before the fête for the end of Ramadan, it was as if it were Christmas Eve since everyone seemed focused on food and planning for the festivities. I saw two cows standing in the backyard of the office in the morning and learned later that they had been slaughtered for the celebration, and everyone was more concerned with getting their share of the meat than scheduling meetings. Made for an interesting first day for yours truly.

It was a special treat to be invited to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr at the home of a friend of a new acquaintance, where everyone put on their best and gathered to break the fast. We drove to the outskirts of Bamako, where the density of people decreases, the traffic diffuses a little, and the hillsides are green this time of year (at the end of the rainy season). We sat inside a large living room and ate beet, carrot, cucumber, and tomato salad, couscous cooked with golden raisins, and lamb in a spicy red sauce.

Once the sun sank to a point where there was shade on the roof deck, we went outside to relax and digest … and to make room for more lamb. We sat on pillows and mattresses on the ground, in a circle, and ate with our hands. We finished with a sour milk which is basically like yogurt with lots of sugar added. As the stars came out, we headed back to the center of town. On the way home, I thought about how challenging it is to articulate some of the images of Africa. As we approached a stoplight, I noticed that both the red and green lights were lit. Stop? Go?