Goat feast.

Today was the awaited Goat Feast.

Yesterday Mercy and Rose, our dutiful cooks, brought a goat back from the market. The goat was 2-3 years old, brown, and scared out of her mind after being transported in a car for a few hours. She cost about 150,000naira, which is approximately $100. I am not sure what the market rate is for goats at home, but for the amount of food that we are getting this seems like a deal!

Sparing the details of the processing, nothing from this goat is going to waste. Much of the meat was roasted over an open flame. Half of it was frozen. Some of it was stewed. (Goat head stew is a famous dish in northern Nigeria.) And some of it, I do not want to eat. It was quite delicious and more tender than I anticipated. I may not want to eat goat for a while after we finish everything, but for now I am really excited about this novel protein source.




One other note about today: A few of us went for an afternoon run and part way through a few kids began to follow us. There is a strange contrast to our need to go exercise and be physical after sitting most of our work days to the active lifestyle of the families in this area who are primarily farmers and laborers, but kids are a different story. They began to imitate us and we played along. We taught them some stretches and calisthenics and twirls for good measure and they practiced their new moves, laughing and smiling. Then we went down to the river for a quick swim and the kids watched us from the bank. One of their mates came along and we watched them explain what we were just doing, acting out the running and stretching and calisthenics. It was precious to see them laugh as they described what we did.

Also, my fingers are still burning from where I touched fresh chilis cooking last night. This is a true testament to the strength of the spiciness.