Tabaski

I was driving through Dissassgho market yesterday, and then turned onto the Fada road, and kept thinking to myself, "what is up with all these animals being sold everywhere on the roads today? This is so unusual. " (and I see a lot of really unusual things here, but this was out of the ordinary even for everyday Burkina)

And then it dawned on me. Tabaski.

Today is Tabaski.

Tabaski being one of two very important holidays celebrated by Muslims. I never would have known this prior to living in Burkina, but since Burkina Faso is a predominately Muslim nation, we have become very familiar with their holidays.

The girls get school off for Burkina holidays (as does the Embassy) as opposed to American ones now, and several of the holidays celebrated here revolve around the Islamic faith.

Tabaski (which it is called here in West Africa) is the celebration of Muslims honoring Abrahams willingness to sacrifice Ishmael on the altar in obedience to God as taught in the Quran.

As Christians, we believe what the Bible says in Genesis 22 in that God instructed Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, not Ishmael. And on our way to Yako this morning I talked to the kids briefly about the holiday and what it signified to them, and how it differs from our beliefs as Christians.

I must say, that living in a country where we are the minority in every single way, it has opened the door to have some really good conversations with the kids. Just last weekend Marvelly was asking why some women walk around in black fabric with only their eyes showing. And I talked about why, what she thinks about that, and how it differs from what we believe and the Bible teaches us.

The streets have been particularly busy the past two days. The streets and markets are a circus here anyways, but the past two days have been ever crazier! Hard to believe!

Lining many streets and filling the markets are herds of sheep and goats brought in by shepherds from all over the country to be sold for the "feast of the sacrifice".

The price of sheep and goats doubles during this time as everyone is scrambling to purchase an animal.

As we tried to drive out of town this morning, the roads were closed off as Burkinabé Muslims took to the streets to celebrate and go to mosque. It was quite a sight!

They put on their finest clothes...

...all these little girls had their hair done up so pretty!

They go to mosque to pray. And then they return home to prepare for the animal sacrifice and the feast that follows.

It is certainly a very interesting place to live, here in Burkina. We see and experience so many things we never would back in the States. It is very informative to be able to observe a different countries cultures, traditions and holidays. While we may not agree with all of the countries practices, we are grateful for the learning opportunities and exposure we receive in living up close and personal to a culture to strikingly different than our own.