To celebrate we were invited to the home of Steve's counterpart Kasim, President of the artisans association and local mechanic. As per custom, Kasim spend the morning transforming a sheep into meat which he is then to share with family and friends, and then the afternoon entertaining said family and friends.
Today's meat was served with Amiwo, which pate pre-mixed with sauce, giving it a faint taste of bullion cube and tomatos to go with the normal pate (void of) texture.
The entertainment, on the other hand, was totally out of left field. A compilation video of Shakira's greatest hits set the background for the meal. Kasim said he had to put on American music for his American friends -- didn't have the heart to tell him that the Lebanese ethnicity and Colombian citizenship kind of shot that plan despite his best intentions.
Innousa, the treasurer of the collective also joined us for the meal (haven't yet met any of his family, not sure where they are).
We ate and talked a bit, and even got a good Benin style picture -- everyone lined up and not smiling.
L-R: Kasim, Steve, Jaren and Innousa. I promise you we all have very nice smiles, really.
After a few hours we made our way back home, bellies full of meat and digesting the conversation (African perspectives on life, death and development). And Shakira.
3 comments:
You mean "Hey Ya!" was not playing in the background?
... and not smiling. Love it.
Her hips don't lie.
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