Christmas in The Gambia

Aside from the whole cold temperatures, Christmas trees, gift giving and delicious food factor, Christmas in The Gambia is the same as Christmas in the US. True if you take all those things away, then in reality the holiday celebrations are nothing alike....but that's just details. All joking aside my first Christmas in The Gambia didn't feel a whole lot like Christmas despite the best efforts of myself and my fellow PCV's. I did get to spend a lot of time on the beach and a bunch of us cooked a big meal for Christmas dinner together at the Peace Corps hostel, but I am a sucker for traditions around the holiday's so the experience just didn't match up to the holiday season at home. I did get a call from my family on Christmas Day so that brightened my mood a bit.

Even though the overwhelming majority of Gambians are Muslim, both Christians and Muslims celebrate Christmas here. Christmas celebrations are a bigger deal in the capital of Banjul and the surrounding metropolitan area than in the provinces because of Western influence and the simple fact that more Christians live in the city. One of the big traditions is for Christmas (or really any holiday here) is for children to dress in their best clothes (almost always brand new clothes that have been specially made for the holiday, clothes are a really big deal in Gambian culture, and West African culture in general) with one child dressed in a costume that resembles a large bush, called a kankara that is somehow related to tribal traditions and initiation rights. The children go around the neighborhoods in big groups beating drums, singing and dancing and asking for salibou, which roughly translates to charity, so people just give them a couple dalasi and they go on their way. Traditionally, people don't give individual gifts for Christmas - they just give the children the salibou and cook a big dinner and then drum and dance at night. The drumming and singing lends a festive mood to the day but it doesn't quiet match up to listening to Christmas music with the whole family back home.

Now that one holiday is behind me I am looking forward to experience the combined craziness of Tobaski and New Year's Eve all rolled into one day. Tobaski is the big Muslim holiday around this time of year to celebrate the Abraham's sacrifice of his only son to God and then God rewarding him for his faith by replacing his son with a ram. Every Muslim man that is financially able to slaughter a ram must do so and if he is able should slaughter an extra one and give it out to those less fortunate. I have been told that Tobaski is pretty much the most important holiday for Gambians and from what I hear there is a lot of praying in the morning, the big killing of the ram moment and then just massive amounts of meat and food for the rest of the day. I have been warned that Tobaski celebrations can sometimes go on for several days, so the experience is bound to be interesting. I am going to celebrate the holiday at the compound of my vice principal and his family. It is bound to be an interesting day so I will be sure to update everyone on the details of the celebration.

Till then, enjoy preparing for New Year's!