Gamo

There was a big celebration in our village a few weeks ago called Gamo. Without utilizing the internet right now to see what Gamo actually is, Ill just tell you what I gathered from being in the village. Its a holiday, but maybe not a strict day. The village of Song Kunda had their Gamo party three days before us, and then one week later another village across the river called Sutukoba had their Gamo celebration. Maybe the day isstrict, but the parties are flexible. The day before the Gamo our village bought three cows, if your a cow and somebody pays for you you must know it means bad news. I went out to the slaughter and watched two cows go down. The method of execution was throat slitting. After seeing two cows down, I decided I didn't really need the third one so I took some time off. I did come back about an hour later, and all the men were sitting out on a tarp finishing the butchering. Another big task was building a huge shade and seating area in front of the mosque. With rapid efficiency the community put in seating and chade for a couple of hundred people. On the day of the actual Gamo, everyone went to the mosque around 9 am. There, the Koran was read, Im not sure if it was the whole thing, but definitely enough to take up the morning and afternoon.. After the reading for was brought out and everybody ate, and then chilled out until 10 pm. At ten we all went back to the mosque for some preaching. People came to the Gamo from all of our neighboring villages, so town was full, and each town brought their Imam, or spiritual leader. At ten each of the Imams took turns speaking, and this went on until the morning. Some people were sitting up listening through the whole thing, some were laying on the ground outside of the mosque, and some like myself just watched part of it and then went home to get in bed.