Memory Lane (Shared with another group a while back) ________________ Of Qirtcha & Figna I dont know to what extent today oxen are slaughtered in Addis neighborhoods (sefer) and elsewhere, and the resultant meat apportioned to participants of the qircha project. Back then, it used to happen a lot on holidays, such as End of the Lent Season, Addis Amet, Mesqel, etc. Growing up, I used to revel in the whole exercise of Qirtcha. I think the main idea was that it would be cheaper to participate in Qirtcha than buying meat at the butchers. Be that as it may, early in the process the coordinators would gather a consensus as to how many households in the neighborhood would participate, and then buy the ox. Probably, after the Qirtcha was said and done, the coordinators would extract some profit--- kind of business, too. On the slaughter day, the trick was to tie up the poor animal and tackle him (her) to the ground without taxing casualty on the executioners (the Ethiopian equivalents of Spanish matadors)---a single mis-step, one could easily get gored. One is reminded of Spanish bullfighting, the difference being in the former it was not sports but a communal ox-kill for the coveted meat. As kids, of course, we were not allowed to get close to the wide circle where the action took place. Once the poor animal is on the ground, the rest of the exercise would follow. Out of respect to the animal rights-minded, I would spare you the gory details you all are familiar with anyway. BTW, one gets a good dose of introduction to rudimentary anatomy by observing the process in the field. Looking back, it was amazing how little it took to thrill us kids then. Our prize after the ritual was consummated was to be awarded the figna. The figna was the urinary bladder of the poor animal, which we would thoroughly wash out clean. I guess it was supposed to be a balloon of sorts. We would be lucky if the figna was not punctured. We would blow air into it and use it as a soccer ball, volley ball, and what not. That was the climax of the process for us, other than helping our parents carry our respective portions of the Qirtcha (bundles of meat) home. Oh, how sweet and memorable those days were!
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 18:19:52 +0000
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