Korita is the Wolof word for EID. This is the prayer time and the feast at the end of Ramadan. On Friday the 10th was the end of Ramadan. During Ramadan the Muslim Gambians fast from 5am in the morning until 7.30pm at night and stop doing any activity such as ceremonies and celebrations. This has meant my Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights have been much more peaceful because the nightclub behind my house hasn’t been blasting loud music. It also has meant that access to foods such as tapalapa and nebbai (heavy bread, beans and salsa) that you can buy from street vendors have been not as available. So usually I have fasted along with the Gambians from starting work until finishing work if I have thought I would eat lunch at home and then have been busy with work. It is possible but I wouldn’t like to have to put in the same fasting hours as the Gambians.
Korita has been a lovely experience, it is a little bit like Easter or Christmas I guess. My phone actually rang all night (I am not sure who was ringing I didn’t want to answer) and this morning I got text messages and phone calls from students and people whose business I support wishing me a good day and inviting me to visit.
The actual day of Korita is not decided until the very last minute due as it is determined by the sighting of the moon. The Gambian’s waited for news from the Mecca to determine Korita so we were not sure whether it would be Thursday or Friday. Late Wednesday night it was announced over the radio that it would be Friday. That means now that Friday and Monday are public holidays. The public holidays in the Gambia are usually announced in a similar way and a few volunteers get caught out sometimes by going to work and finding no one is there. I actually like the ‘go with the flow’ attitude – it is something to learn from, not to be thrown out by last minute changes. So on Thursday night we had dinner as a compound at my house for the final ‘breaking of the fast’ (the meal at 7.30pm) unfortunately I burnt it so it wasn’t the nicest breaking of the fast!!
One of my colleagues, Mr Jarjou, invited Jane and June and I to have lunch with his family as two of his children were sick so they wouldn’t meet up with their extended family. So we dressed up and went over to visit taking a few presents for korita with us. It was lovely to meet up with Mr Jarjou’s family. He has one wife and four young girls and many of his wife’s family including brothers, sisters, children of brothers and sisters ect were also there. Because the word ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ can mean friend, aunt, uncle or cousin, it is really hard to determine the relationship and because those words aren’t used in the Gambia it is hard for them to work out how to describe the relationship to us as well.
The lunchtime meal is eaten after two on Korita after the men have said prayers at the Mosque. Prayers are said five times everyday usually but on Korita prayer time is especially important. The Gambians are very committed to their prayer times and it is wonderful to see the tolerance people show towards each other – Christians work beside Muslims and are happy to ‘pause’ a meeting or a workshop at two pm and five thirty for prayer time. Often the Christian students have asked me not to start a lecture until twenty minutes later to allow their Muslim colleagues time to pray. The same sort of respect is shown to the Christians in observing Christmas and Easter rituals. At times you will find families with both Muslims and Christians. It is a beautiful example of how people can live if they show respect each other’s beliefs.
So after Mr Jarjou came back from the Mosque we ate a meal together. We ate out of the same bowl but used a spoon and a fork each. Meat is an important part of special meals here, so I just ate around the mutton (though I am proud to say Jarjou’s wife is also vegetarian). Jarjou made sure an egg was included for me.
After the meal Jarjou went to the mosque to pray again and we played with the children and babies and then Jarjou went to visit his family in Kartong and took June and Jane along to see the village. I got dropped off on the way so I could visit Isatou’s family who had rung and invited me to have Benechin (a local rice dish which is like a dry version of risotto). Luckily the shops were open so I was able to also get Isatou’s family a last minute gift. The shops in the Gambia almost never close – even on a special day such as Korita the market stays open.
So after eating at Mr Jarjou’s house I then joined Isatou’s family just in time to eat with them. It is rude to refuse food here and so I didn’t tell them I had eaten. I didn’t realize either that the custom is that honored guests eat separately so I was given a food bowl inside with Isatou’s father and the women and children all ate outside. I felt really awkward and wasn’t sure whether to have a conversation or not while we were eating. Luckily a young child also ate with us (Isatou’s father told me she hasn’t been eating enough).
Eating in the food bowl is really interesting. With benechin you have a rice mixture and then the meat and vegetables sits in big chunks on the top. You are supposed to break off a small chunk of meat or whatever vegetable is in your part of the bowl then push the rest off so everyone else can share it. No one worries about sharing spoons and the children eat with their hands. It is a very different way of eating but not so bad when you get used to it.
After eating I sat with Isatou’s elder sister (who’s wedding I went to) and her neighbor (who had a baby boy two weeks ago) and chatted to them. They spoke very good English as Isatou’s sister works at a nearby hotel. The other woman’s husband also works at the hotel. Then I went back to my compound to see Mr Touray who also invited me to food bowl as he hadn’t been able to visit his family because of the rain and was eating alone. This time I knew I could refuse and not offend or have my third meal in three hours! I did however sit and have a chat with Mr Touray.
It rained heavily all day so the normal Korita celebrations were thrown out a little. Normally people go and visit many others but Isatou’s mother said that due to the rain and all the water on the streets they weren’t able to visit (the people I visited all lived close by although I had to wade through a huge puddle to get to Isatou’s house). Late in the afternoon I was surprised to see some a big group of beautifully dressed children at my door and realized that there must be a ‘trick or treat’ aspect to Korita. I gave each of the children some lollies that I just happened to have in my house but then I ran out. The next knock however was Isatou and her friends and then the rain started again so I just managed to service the demand. Isatou told me that the children do go around in the afternoon of Korita and are given sweets or money, then apologized for not warning me.
I ended Korita by watching a movie with Isatou and two of her friends. They watched ‘Charlotte’s web’ and enjoyed it a lot. It is interesting to watch the reaction of the children here to films that children at home would be ‘too cool’ to watch. We also had a go at making popcorn which the girls loved – they think it would be a quick solution for a hungry husband when they are married!
Overall a lovely day ;-)
Korita has been a lovely experience, it is a little bit like Easter or Christmas I guess. My phone actually rang all night (I am not sure who was ringing I didn’t want to answer) and this morning I got text messages and phone calls from students and people whose business I support wishing me a good day and inviting me to visit.
The actual day of Korita is not decided until the very last minute due as it is determined by the sighting of the moon. The Gambian’s waited for news from the Mecca to determine Korita so we were not sure whether it would be Thursday or Friday. Late Wednesday night it was announced over the radio that it would be Friday. That means now that Friday and Monday are public holidays. The public holidays in the Gambia are usually announced in a similar way and a few volunteers get caught out sometimes by going to work and finding no one is there. I actually like the ‘go with the flow’ attitude – it is something to learn from, not to be thrown out by last minute changes. So on Thursday night we had dinner as a compound at my house for the final ‘breaking of the fast’ (the meal at 7.30pm) unfortunately I burnt it so it wasn’t the nicest breaking of the fast!!
One of my colleagues, Mr Jarjou, invited Jane and June and I to have lunch with his family as two of his children were sick so they wouldn’t meet up with their extended family. So we dressed up and went over to visit taking a few presents for korita with us. It was lovely to meet up with Mr Jarjou’s family. He has one wife and four young girls and many of his wife’s family including brothers, sisters, children of brothers and sisters ect were also there. Because the word ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ can mean friend, aunt, uncle or cousin, it is really hard to determine the relationship and because those words aren’t used in the Gambia it is hard for them to work out how to describe the relationship to us as well.
The lunchtime meal is eaten after two on Korita after the men have said prayers at the Mosque. Prayers are said five times everyday usually but on Korita prayer time is especially important. The Gambians are very committed to their prayer times and it is wonderful to see the tolerance people show towards each other – Christians work beside Muslims and are happy to ‘pause’ a meeting or a workshop at two pm and five thirty for prayer time. Often the Christian students have asked me not to start a lecture until twenty minutes later to allow their Muslim colleagues time to pray. The same sort of respect is shown to the Christians in observing Christmas and Easter rituals. At times you will find families with both Muslims and Christians. It is a beautiful example of how people can live if they show respect each other’s beliefs.
So after Mr Jarjou came back from the Mosque we ate a meal together. We ate out of the same bowl but used a spoon and a fork each. Meat is an important part of special meals here, so I just ate around the mutton (though I am proud to say Jarjou’s wife is also vegetarian). Jarjou made sure an egg was included for me.
After the meal Jarjou went to the mosque to pray again and we played with the children and babies and then Jarjou went to visit his family in Kartong and took June and Jane along to see the village. I got dropped off on the way so I could visit Isatou’s family who had rung and invited me to have Benechin (a local rice dish which is like a dry version of risotto). Luckily the shops were open so I was able to also get Isatou’s family a last minute gift. The shops in the Gambia almost never close – even on a special day such as Korita the market stays open.
So after eating at Mr Jarjou’s house I then joined Isatou’s family just in time to eat with them. It is rude to refuse food here and so I didn’t tell them I had eaten. I didn’t realize either that the custom is that honored guests eat separately so I was given a food bowl inside with Isatou’s father and the women and children all ate outside. I felt really awkward and wasn’t sure whether to have a conversation or not while we were eating. Luckily a young child also ate with us (Isatou’s father told me she hasn’t been eating enough).
Eating in the food bowl is really interesting. With benechin you have a rice mixture and then the meat and vegetables sits in big chunks on the top. You are supposed to break off a small chunk of meat or whatever vegetable is in your part of the bowl then push the rest off so everyone else can share it. No one worries about sharing spoons and the children eat with their hands. It is a very different way of eating but not so bad when you get used to it.
After eating I sat with Isatou’s elder sister (who’s wedding I went to) and her neighbor (who had a baby boy two weeks ago) and chatted to them. They spoke very good English as Isatou’s sister works at a nearby hotel. The other woman’s husband also works at the hotel. Then I went back to my compound to see Mr Touray who also invited me to food bowl as he hadn’t been able to visit his family because of the rain and was eating alone. This time I knew I could refuse and not offend or have my third meal in three hours! I did however sit and have a chat with Mr Touray.
It rained heavily all day so the normal Korita celebrations were thrown out a little. Normally people go and visit many others but Isatou’s mother said that due to the rain and all the water on the streets they weren’t able to visit (the people I visited all lived close by although I had to wade through a huge puddle to get to Isatou’s house). Late in the afternoon I was surprised to see some a big group of beautifully dressed children at my door and realized that there must be a ‘trick or treat’ aspect to Korita. I gave each of the children some lollies that I just happened to have in my house but then I ran out. The next knock however was Isatou and her friends and then the rain started again so I just managed to service the demand. Isatou told me that the children do go around in the afternoon of Korita and are given sweets or money, then apologized for not warning me.
I ended Korita by watching a movie with Isatou and two of her friends. They watched ‘Charlotte’s web’ and enjoyed it a lot. It is interesting to watch the reaction of the children here to films that children at home would be ‘too cool’ to watch. We also had a go at making popcorn which the girls loved – they think it would be a quick solution for a hungry husband when they are married!
Overall a lovely day ;-)
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