Corite

Today has been a day of recuperation for the country, and I joined in on that. I spent much of today sleeping and resting at home. It wasn’t until a friend of mine called me at 4:30pm that I actually got out of bed for good. But the friend of mine who called me had also not gotten out of bed yet.

Yesterday was Corite (the end of Ramadan). The celebrations began on Friday night and I began by going out dancing with my friends all night. Saturday, my host mother cooked all day to prepare the lunch time meal which we ate around 3pm. Relatives of my host family came over and spent the day with us. The kids, aside from the eldest and the niece, were at relatives' houses. It reminded me much of Thanksgiving. Eating, sitting around, and talking. My host mom never really joined us, because she stayed in the kitchen or cleaning or staying occupied otherwise. But she would come into the room where the relatives were and laugh and laugh with them, but just for a few moments before returning to her work. The relatives were incredibly nice. It was entertaining enough to simply watch them interact with each other. They were very loud, very involved in each other's problems, and had advice and suggestions for everyone. One of the aunts was in an argument with someone else who had married into the family and kept picking up the phone to argue with another relative about the situation. Every time the phone rang, she made everyone in the house be quiet so she could hear. The relatives quietly teased her and joked about the situation. I would say that everyone in the neighborhood could hear her, but I'm sure all the festivities at the nearby houses were just as loud. The way that families work here just amaze me. The well-being of the family is the first priority… but not just the immediate family, the extended family. If a woman has a job here, her money is not given to her immediate family… it is given to her father's family, because she is part of his household, not the household of her husband. It is up to the husband to provide for the family. The woman shares with her original family and saves the rest for herself. Typically. I don't believe that is the case in my host family, because my host father does not have a job.

The food for Corite was delicious. Chicken, beef, Moroccan couscous, all sorts of vegetables, and various sauces. We're eating the leftovers today. Again, much like Thanksgiving. Typically, part of the celebration involves making a tour to visit all the neighbors, but my family didn't do that. And also, our neighbors didn't visit us. Which I hear is very unusual, but perhaps the neighbors were at their respective villages for the celebration.