Sh'wa and the Third Day of Eid

Fur rubbed in spices, meat, and
banana leaves.

My host dad removing the meat
from the bone.

      On the third day of Eid I tried sh'wa which is a traditional dish of Eid made from the sacrificed goat. To make sh'wa you rub the goat heads and some cuts of meat with a mixture of spices and garlic, these are then wrapped in dry banana leaves, then in burlap, and placed in a stiff wire container. This is placed in a charcoal pit, covered with

sand, and left overnight.

Goat Brain

 In the early afternoon on Thursday we went out back where the wire basket where the sh'wa was. It had been cooked at a family friend's house because my family didn't have the pit required for cook it. Now, with a lot of excitement my family removed the banana leaves and set to obtaining the meat. My older sister was most excited goat cheek, my host mother for the eyes, my host father for the brain, and my little host sister for the tongue. Quickly they peeled the skin and fur from the meat and the meat from the bone. It was a startling transformation from animal to food.
       I tried goat cheek, tongue and a nibble of brain, all for the first time. I wasn't brave enough to try goat eyes though my host mother offered one, which was very gracious of her, considering how much she loves them. Goat cheek was my favorite of the three fleshes from the goat's head, but I didn't like the idea of eating anything's cheek, so I switched to the sh'wa that came from the goat's hind quarters. I noticed my host brothers weren't very adventurous is their meat choices either. We ate our sh'wa with rice, tomatoes, and onions. 

All the different kinds of shoo'wa

     After lunch I found out that the US government had come to agreement, the shutdown had ended and the debt ceiling raised. At five we left for my host mom's village, where we stayed the night with her father and sisters. The had the perfect end to Eid, a picnic dinner in a park with much of my host mom's extended family. There was a lot of laughter, and the cousins played together in the grass: the older cousins tossing and swinging the little ones. Everyone had ice cream from a vendor, and my host sister and I found a set of swings and flew high under the almost full moon.