A word of warning. Some of the images below are graphic and will be sure to offend anyone who likes sheep. And, no, it’s not that kind of posting.

Once again I find myself in a Muslim country for the feast of Eid. In the days leading up to the holiday, sheep are rounded up and brought to market. It is believed that the slaughtered animal will be waiting in the afterlife to carry to heaven the person in whose name the animal was sacrificed, thus, it is a very bad week to be covered in wool. Along every road one can see herdsmen bringing their animals to town. Trucks carry larger numbers of livestock into the cities. On my way to Fes, I saw a number of families huddled next to a sheep in the backseat of a Toyota.

The slaughtering takes place everywhere — on roadsides, at abbatoirs, and even in bathtubs in private homes. For the many who don’t go to professional butchers, there remains the troublesome issue of removing the horns, as the head is a prized dish eaten on the following day. The free market, however, has solved that problem.

All around the city entrepreneurs have set up stations to remove the horns. Families arrive with their sacrificial head in a bucket. For a dollar-fifty the sawmen will clean and prep the head, which aslo includes burning off the hair.

Metal mattress frames are placed over charcoal, allowing for many heads to be processed at once. The pungent smell of burning hair permeates the medina and the narrower passageways are filled with smoke.

Were it not for the blue jeans and the occasional chime of a cellphone, it feels as if the city is suspended in the Middle Ages. There is not a tourist in sight.

All for now.

Best,
George