Friday, November 23, 2007

Killing the turkey...

Yep folks, that's right. We found a turkey. American Thanksgiving will be held amongst an eclectic international crowd and it all began with this fine bird. My friend Cheryl (the mazungu),Peggy (the local), and I bravely took a knife to the poor thing and learned a lot about what it takes to get a beautiful turkey on the table.... I guess the market was in a small uproar yesterday when Cheryl arrived because farmers had searched high and low for a turkey for her!

It is amazing how easy the feathers come off when you dip the thing in boiling, hot water. The whole event brought me back to high school biology -- quite the anatomy review!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Carms! So proud of you. That is amazing.

Brett & Shelly Faucett said...

Hey Carmen,
We did something similar to that in Moldova, but it was chickens instead of a Turkey. It was brutal to watch because the knife our guy was using was in desperate need of sharpening. The poor chickens were suffering a slow death with the long time it took to saw through their necks with a dull knife, Yikes!!!!! This was all for a wedding. We plucked feathers after putting them in boiling water too. Ahhh, good times. It's definitely not like buying a chicken in the grocery store in the states. Great pictures of the Masai too. We love your blog and I like the way you arrange your pictures. I especially like the way you write.

Take Care
Love Brett

David Hallgren said...

Dude! I am proud of you. I am not sure I could do that. Also, that eel...I am certain that I would have ran out of the water crying. You are the friend I will think of when I need to be brave! I hope you are doing well. Miss you ton.
DH

Rochelle said...

My friend, I am impressed. I am glad you got a little taste of home with a Thanksgiving turkey! You look so happy.

Sarah said...

What a feat - I'm proud of you! Looks like you are all having a great time. Any pumpkin pie or sweet potatoes? Green bean casserole? hahaha

amy said...

And I thought it was bad to pick out the bird alive, come back in five minutes and then tell them they needed to empty it and cut off the neck! Glad you're blogging Carm. I am too at http://memoirsofaforeigner.wordpress.com