Shopping for Sheep - Charlotte C

       Who knew there could be a Souk or market for just one product? Well, anyone in Morocco or around the developing world lives that way all the time, with shops next to each other, selling identical wares. However, what I did not know was you can have Souks that only sell SHEEP. This coming Monday is the main day of Eid Kabir, a huge Muslim holiday that commemorates the story of Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son Ishmael and taking him up to the mountain but God/Allah saves his son by replacing him with a sheep to sacrifice. Eid Kabir is the culmination of the year for herders who probably make a bundle since every family in Morocco and other parts of the Muslim world will all have to buy a sheep. The sheep will be sacrificed in the family home, skinned, and the organs prepared in specific ways and shared with family. Its a huge ordeal that I have yet to witness at the time I was writing this but I'm sure it will be perceived by 17 different perspectives in the coming week.

       Anyway, the past couple of days have been prime sheep-purchasing days. My host family claims the whole city smells like sheep. On the roads you can see cheep being pulled into houses, driven in the backs of trucks or normal cars (my family says that will make the sheep smell stick for way longer than you can handle), pushed in carts, pulled on trailers behind motorbikes, or carried on the motorbike itself. The discontented bleat/croak of disgruntled and overly-handled sheep is commonplace. 

        But tonight I personally went to one of the places where the madness begins. Herders from the country bring in their herds on huge trucks to sell in cities like Marrakech. The Sheep Souk near my house consisted of men standing and holding their sheep for display, people looking to buy, and those transporting their sheep home. Sheep can be displayed in a number of ways, on a truck or on a leash. There are huge sheep that some up past my hips and could probably push me down and then much smaller sheep. They have to be checked thoroughly before the purchase because you want one with a good shape, well taken care of, with good teeth and large horns, and for the best price. People run around feeling sheep hips and picking them up to test the weight. Once they've found the right one, they can get someone to carry it on a cart or they just sling it over their shoulders. Some try to urge the sheep in the correct direction which does not tend to work and thus they pick up the back legs and push the sheep like a wheel barrel. Even after all of that we did not find the perfect sheep and we will have to go back tomorrow.