Many, Many Mouton

Yesterday I walked with my friend Hanne over to one of the main streets near the edge of town where my other friend Sally lives. This last week or so, Sally has been complaining about the increasing number sheep around her place. When she mentioned that I thought, Ya that’s right, where there was one sheep now there are two or three, and I supposed that if there were a few more like that all over the city then the mouton population would be considerably higher than a few weeks ago. So Hanne and I took off in the heat of the day to go check things out.

Before we could see the sheep we could smell them. They were laying fresh asphalt on the road and even stronger than the smell of tar was the smell of manure, and overpowering the general din of construction was the tell-tale “bleeeeh!” of sheep.
We walked further along and the road opened up to a sea of sheep. They were every which way you looked, all grouped together on the sides of the road. The sheep herders all stood by waiting for potential customers to come over and have a look. The kept their herds tight together, though the sheep really didn’t seem to want to go anywhere. I have heard of the sheep herders that they sleep on the ground next to the sheep as well.

Word on the street is that the price for a sheep ranges from $60 to $100 depending on the quality of the ram and also depending on the person buying it and their haggling skills. Anyhow, it was amazing to see and hear so many sheep all in one place. Perhaps more amazing was the realization that not one single sheep was tied up, and though many were chasing each other around and heat butting, they didn’t seem inclined to run away.

All the sheep are for Tabaski which is this coming Wednesday. Whenever you mention the word mouton to anyone their faces light up and they say Oui, Tabaski!, as though Santa is coming to town. I realise that Tabaski is a very religiously significant day for the Muslims however it is difficult not to getting caught up in all the Toubab’s concern that this Wednesday, every single sheep will be killed, pretty much all at the same time. The word bloodbath keeps coming to mind for some reason… All I know for sure is that Wednesday will be an eye opening day and is sure to have a really great meal!