Pocket Meat

Some days ago in my village there was a baptism. The family was putting on the celebration for three children, so they killed three goats. For a baptism, men gather in the morning to greet each other, pray, and slaughter the animals. After lunch, some women from the village gather together to cook a large meal with the goats that were killed in the morning. Then in the late afternoon (around 4pm), men and women from all over the village come to eat together and pray.

After putting on my Friday best and going over for the morning greeting and praying, I returned to my compound. I don't remember what I did in the late morning that day--probably sat outside and played with the little kids or read a book while laying on my host dad's bed in the front yard. Around noon I wandered into my host mom Nyuma's cooking hut to chat with her while she cooked lunch. She was catching me up on the village gossip when her son Keeba (9) walked into the hut and excitedly said to me "I have meat!" I thought I misunderstood what he said because he was not carrying anything in his hands*, so I responded, "What?" Keeba then told me again that he had some meat, and I knew that I was hearing the words correctly.

Keeba then reached into the pocket of his fukijai** jeans and pulled out a small hunk of fat. I asked him where he got the meat and he told me at the baptism. Of course--why had I not connected that? While still sitting in my mom's cooking hut, I then proceeded to watch Keeba as he put some of his mom's cooking fire in the brazier to roast the meat. He then grabbed my mom's old oatmeal tin that she uses to store her salt. While holding the meat in his left hand*** over the tin, Keeba reached into the tin with his right hand and began rubbing salt into the meat to season it. Some of the salt of course fell back into the tin as it rolled off the piece of raw meat. He then put the meat directly on the coals to roast. I continued to sit and silently observe.

Lunch was just about finished, so I went into my hut and grabbed my spoon. My mom brought out the men's bowl and set it down between me and my host dad. Keeba soon emerged from his mom's backyard. He had washed**** his hands and came to squat at the bowl, his meat still roasting on the coals in his mom's cooking hut. Generally the kids use their hands to break up the clumps of rice in the whole bowl before my host dad pours on the sauce. On this day I was extra vigorous in breaking up my section of rice with my own spoon. I did not get sick, so I must have successfully avoided the pocket meat germs.

The food at the baptism later in the afternoon that day was pretty good.

The morals of the story are that it is best not to watch food preparation and it is best not to think about where the kids' hands might have been before they touch all the rice in the communal bowl. Or the moral could be that if you hang out while an animal is being butchered for a baptism you might get a free piece of meat to snack on. Depends on your perspective.

*It is not altogether unusual for someone to carry around a pile of raw meat in their hand. For example, one of our neighbors biked into our compound on Tabaski (a big holiday about two months after Ramadan ends where families sacrifice a sheep or goat if they have the means) last year holding onto his handlebars with one hand and holding a sizable handful of meat in his other hand. He was bringing the meat to my host dad as a gift because my family did not have the money to buy an animal to slaughter.

**A fukijai is the ubiquitous "used American/European clothing" shop that can be found in markets all over Senegal. Their wares include all types of shirts, pants, hats, and the like. If you have ever wondered where all of Goodwill's excess donations go, this is it. Items range in price from about 50 CFA to 1000 CFA depending on their quality. $1 USD is about 500 CFA.

***Reminder: in Senegal, you use your left hand and water to clean your butt after pooping. I have never seen anyone in my village (other than myself) use soap to wash their hands after cleaning themselves--just water.

****When the kids wash their hands before eating, they never use soap--just a rinse.