Today was the festival of Korité, the celebration that marks the end of Ramadan. Fortunately, it fell on the earlier of the two possible days on which it could have fallen--my host family was very excited upon having heard the news last night that the crescent moon has been spotted over Touba.
I woke up around 9:00, and got dressed in my traditional clothing in time for my family to return home from their morning of prayers at the mosque. The day was spent playing Scrabble (I haven't got up the courage to even try yet, I just watched) and greeting visitors.
Essentially, Korité is a day of feasting as well as a day of forgiveness. People go around their neighborhoods asking their neighbors to forgive them (baal ma aq) for any transgressions that they might have unwittingly committed. I found out from Blondin, my tech-savvy law-student host cousin, that it's become common practice among the youth to send text messages to this effect (yet another example of the interplay between tradition and modernity).
The meal we had today was probably the best one I've had since coming here: Delicious meat cooked over an open flame accompanied by fresh vegetables, and french fries hot off the deep-fryer. To top it all off, I had a can of orange Fanta. Now, that may not sound all that great, but let me qualify that statement by saying this: Sweet mercy, the orange Fanta here is so much better than in the US! Dié, my host brother, was quick to point this out as well.
Also, my host mom is back from Paris, so I'll get the opportunity tonight to show her the photos I brought from home, and we'll also get to open the Colorado 1870-2000 book that I brought.
That's all for now. I need to get out of this traditional get-up, because as comfy and pajama-like as it is, it's still really dang hot here.
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