Senegal seams to enjoy a near uninterrupted chain of public holidays - 15 that we know of – 3 civil holidays, 4 Muslim and 8 Christian – very interesting given the country is 95% Muslim (the other 4% Catholic and 1% Protestant)! Since our arrival only 2 months ago, we’ve already experienced 6! This week (Thursday) was “Premiere Communion” (1st Communion)…which I didn’t realize was celebrated anywhere as a public holiday…but then I noticed on the calendar the official holiday is for the Day of Ascension. Excuse my ignorance, but do Canadian Catholics all have 1st Communion on this same day? Like back home, we knew which were the little Catholic children because they were the ones donned in very fancy white dresses with flowers in their hair!
The Muslim holidays are determined by the lunar calendar (the Islamic calendar is based on 12 lunar months) and therefore occur on different dates each year (usually about 11 days earlier than the year before). Strangely, the exact dates depend on what hour the moon is seen, and by whom, so the exact dates of the holidays are only announced just before they occur (I don't pretend to understand it all...for more information click here).
Today, the Muslims from surrounding communities are flocking into Niaguis to celebrate Gamou - the death of the prophet Mohammed. They have been working to put the finishing touches on their temporary pavilion beside the mosque to house the overflow and the Imam (the head teacher in the mosque) and his helpers have been chanting their Arabic prayers over the mosque loudspeaker all day long (instead of the usual 5 times a day). The celebrations don’t actually start until this evening so it may be a sleepless night for us since the mosque is only a few hundred feet from our house!
Earlier in April we had celebrated Eid al-Moulid – Mohammed’s birthday – with friends and their family. Mohammed’s birthday is typically celebrated by returning to your hometown for prayers and feasting. We joined our friends Binta, Rocky and Tida in their hometown of Bagnagna (20 km from here) where we met their 60+ relatives! The evening started with prayers for their dead at their little home cemetary – at which time gifts of money or objects of white (candles, rice, sugar, etc) were offered, followed by standing in line to touch the ‘white flag’ of prosperity before siting to eat Chebu Yap (rice with meat – the festive version of Chebu Jen - Senegal’s national dish of rice and fish) Senagalese style (ie. sans utensils).
JP's messy with a fork so eating with his hands was almost disastrous...there is actually a skill to making the perfect bolus of food in the palm of your hand (without using the other)! It's messy but boy is it tasty! The festivities were actually continuing all through the night with the reading of the Qu’ran and lots more food, but JP and I chose not to stay the whole night since a friend of ours needed to a ride back to Niaguis.
Everyone anxiously awaited to touch the white flag!Next up is Day of Pentecost…
1 comment:
Ah... Senegal holidays. :) There are a ton of them, aren't there? For the record, May has the most, I think. Enjoy!
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