Discovering Dosso

Friday morning we boarded "Big Blue" and headed 2 hours southeast to the town of Dosso where we did an abridged version of the "Weekend to Remember" marriage conference at a church.   As usual, my camera was my constant companion and there was always something new to see.

It was interesting to notice that most of the luggage didn't consist of suitcases but bags and buckets and more bags. Our old faithful black Samsonite that has traveled the world for years was the only suitcase of its kind.  

 

The countryside is always interesting to see as well as the myriad of little villages we passed through.

We made numerous stops during the 2 hours trip that stretched the trip into 3 hours.  We never got off the bus but it gave the people a chance to buy goodies out of the windows.

About an hour into the ride the TV came on with an American  R-rated "shoot 'em down, blow 'em up" movie.  It was in English with Chinese sub-titles.  Fortunately, most of the passengers couldn't hear it due to the bus noises and I don't think there was anyone on the bus who could read Chinese.

 

I preferred the sights out of the window.

We were lodged in a motel next to the bus station and a good half-mile walk from the church.  

It had AC and a small fridge.  Wonderful.

But only one pillow and a confusing set of faucets in the bathroom and....no. mirror. anywhere.  The reflection in Tom's glasses wasn't quite enough to confidently tie on my head covering, but we managed.  For the first time in our 32 years of marriage, I had to comb Tom's hair after he showered-to make sure the part was straight!  (We found out later that for an extra $12/night there are rooms with  mirrors.)

The conference was great.  Every culture, every people group has its peculiarities and challenges when conducing a marriage conference and this one was no exception.  Since it was a marriage conference...for couples...we expected couples to be sitting together.  But no, the women were on one side and the men on the other.   It was too uncomfortable for some to sit with their spouse, but others,with a bit of prodding, very reluctantly and with nervous giggles moved across the aisle to sit with their spouse.

Their were couples of all ages and the feedback was great.  We appreciated the pastor and his wife who not only took great care of us and fixed all our meals, but who are great shepherds to their flock.

As in every community, there are deep hurts and incredible relationship pain.  The session on asking and granting forgiveness in a sincere fashion, was as usual one of the most used-by-God messages.

Tabaski Come and Gone

The day is done and the smell of wood fires and singed hair is slowly leaving the house.  I haven't had much appetite all day--when you see the pictures of what transpired outside our front gate maybe you'll understand.  I refrained from putting in the most graphic pictures--in fact, there were certain happenings in the process that I turned away from and refused to capture on film.  Wimpy, I know.

Yesterday I mentioned that I wished you could smell the smells of the sheep market with us.  Today...not so much.

The celebration called for new clothes and our neighbors came back from the 9:00 prayers at the mosque all dressed up.

This little guy lives on the other side of us and we KNEW today was a special day because he actually had on clothes!  He's one of our favorites.

 The slaughter began shortly after the 9:00 prayers at the mosque.  Several neighbors joined together to do the job.  A huge job:  killing, skinning, gutting and then placing the carcasses on 6-foot skewers.  They had the system down pat.

This was the most interesting part to me.  As Rabiou was getting ready to skin the sheep, he made a small slit near the hoof and ran a stick up the leg.  Then he began blowing into that small slit and Voila! the sheep ballooned like a ...I don't know what...but it was a big huge balloon.  He said it made it much easier to skin.

 Two 6-ft long sticks (about 1 inch in diameter) were poked through each carcass and then these were arranged around the hot fire.

As we walked around the neighborhood, we saw the outdoor "barbeques" everywhere. However, I did notice that there was no grease sizzling and no smell of meat cooking.  

The heads and legs were taken home for another day.  

In the afternoon, a fella passed by to purchase the skins.

The meat cooked from noon until 7pm or so.  Then the meat, on the skewers, was taken down, placed inside the house, to be eaten tomorrow.  I don't know why they didn't eat it today.  I will have to ask them that tomorrow.  

Niamey Stockyards...Really?

Oh.My.Word.  What a fun experience we had today.  Our neighbor/nightguard has been asking to take us out to the sheep market for days.  We found a spare hour at noon and off we went.  Our neighbor was happy to share his knowledge with us. My farmer husband loved hanging out with the animals, even though they were sheep.  And I could snap pictures right and left.

Tomorrow is Tabaski, the Muslim holiday that celebrates the offering of Ishmael (not Issac) by Abraham.

A common sight in the streets this week has been sheep.
   Sheep for sale.
     Sheep being dragged along.
       Sheep loaded into taxis.
         Docile sheep with very little energy. Very docile.
 For you sheep farmers out there:  are sheep always docile or only if they live in the city and when they are  tired and hungry?

So...here are some of the pictures from our hour long excursion at noontime today.   I only wish you could smell the smells and feel the noonday sun beating down.

The number of people coming in to buy and sell sheep caused a huge traffic jam.  We got out and walked.

 The "stockyard" was a huge open area.  Each owner stood by his sheep (or cow) to barter.  The prices ranged from $50-$200 per sheep.  Each nuclear family buys one, if they can afford it, and if a man has more than one wife, he is to buy one for each wife.  Our neighbors next door will kill at least three as there are three families in the courtyard, even though they are all related.

 Don't let the warm looking clothing fool you into thinking that it's fall weather here!  It was well over 100 degrees.

Tom was delighted to visit with this farmer... informing him that he was the son of a farmer as well!

 Our neighbor was always running into people he knew.

There were piles of food for the animals.

 On the outside of the fenced off area were hundreds more coming to buy and sell.
 

 So now that the sheep is purchased, how does one get it home?
 They often come into town tied to the top of mini-vans...yes, it is full of people inside.

...along with lot of firewood needed to roast these guys.

It's not quite like calf wrestling but they did hold him down and tie three of the legs together.  That way he can still kick with one which helps with his breathing... at least that's what our wonderful guide told us.

They got the first one in...

then the second...

 

 and then all four were comfortably seated in the taxi for their ride into town.

 No taxi?  There is always the motorcycle.

If there's room for one, there is always room for one more.  

Tomorrow we'll experience the holiday, so come back for more pictures.