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| #MartinaMcbride |
1. It was barely 5:30 when I was dragged out of bed.
'Shhhhh!!!', my aunt hushed, when I asked, what was going on.
In a daze, I slipped on my flip flops and hurried after her.
It was cold and I couldn't really see through the white haze that permeated the entire compound.
'Hurry!' she said, mystifying me even more, at the cause of all the excitement.
Soon we were out of our gate and I saw we weren't the only ones.
There was fire and smoke rising to the sky.
Shirtless men surrounded the fire, exerting their energies
Someone rushed right past us towards the men; holding a knife
I was so confused that I did not notice that my sister had also been dragged out of bed.
One of the shirtless, threw something at the fire and it flared up, causing everyone to move back.
The men turned away and yelled at the one who had thrown something at it.
In that moment I caught my first glimpse of something that would stay with me always.
Once they were done yelling, I saw what the knife was meant for.
The Christmas Goat.
2. Fire seemed to be the common factor this morning.
Women sat around piles of firewood stoking cook fires, others cleaned the meat
There was also some cutting and pounding
Soon, the air was permeated with smells
There was rice, moin moin, chicken, Vegetables, pounded yam and goat meat
I worked myself into a frenzy, tasting every tidbit of food I could.
Family and friends started to arrive and shelves of cold drinks were unburdened one after the other.
Conversations flowed, and the house was filled with the men's raucous laughter.
Children ran around the compound going upstairs and downstairs and entering every room.
It was the national headquarters of the Christmas Spirit.