A friend of mine yesterday received a google news alert of an article I found very amusing and interesting. It was about Tabaski, the festival of sacrifice of Eid Al-Adha, the secondest biggest holiday in Islam. The article's title expresses the heart of the relationship of West Africa with the sheep: "In Senegal, a sheep is a man's best friend."
Tabaski is very much similar to other Islamic holidays; it is a when the men attend mosque in the morning and the women cook delicious food (and make delicious juice!! I had the most fantastic coconut juice). But it is also a day in which many sheep are sacrificed. As the article states, the Quran recommends that every adult believer with the monetary capability must sacrifice a sheep.
It was very interesting to me as a westerner to see all the advertisements before Tabaski. I bought a paper this past Monday with an advirtisement at the top for Orange Money. If I would have sent money with orange money before Tabaski, I would have been entered in a drawing to win a sheep; one sheep was given away daily. The soccer field acrossed from my house was also converted into a sheep market. On Tuesday, it was a normal sight to see people pick up a sheep and put it into their trunk.
While some westerners would disregard this as a crazy obsession, I find it an interesting cultural musing. In discussion with friends, we compared the Senegalese mouton (this is the French word for sheep; I'm not a big fan of saying sheep, just because I think mouton sounds cooler) obsession to the western obsession with the perfect Christmas tree. If an Senegalese saw an American cut an evergreen and put it in the trunk, they would probably find us just as crazy.
For further reading, if you're interested, here is a link to the article. "In Senegal, a sheep is a man's best friend."
http://niger1.com/?p=1138
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