Eid Al Adha

Two weeks ago, the day after Thanksgiving, Eid Al Adha began in Egypt. The day before Eid began,we fasted. That was Thursday which was ironically when Thanksgiving is. The reason we fasted was in honor of the people who are on the Hajj right now. The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca which can be very tiring. This is the time of the year for Muslims to go if they are able, so all those that aren't able to, fast in honor of those that can. Eid is a four day Holiday. On Friday morning, everyone goes to the mosque to pray. Even women can go to mosques with sections for women. There was a thunderstorm on Thursday night, and it rained a lot(surprisingly). Because of this, when I woke up early to go watch the prayer, my host mom said that I didn't need to come because none of my host sibling were going, and that not many people would be out praying, but I decided to go anyway. We walked swiftly to a nearby mosque avoiding large rain puddles on the ground. When we got near to the mosque, the sheik was beginning the call to prayer, so my host parents ran to the mosque. I stood outside the fence, and observed it all. The mosque was completely full, so people laid their prayer rugs on a plastic sheet in the grass. Some men even laid their mats down on nearby sidewalks outside of the fence of the mosque. People were running to the mosque to make this prayer. Everyone prayed in unison with the call, and then some stayed to listen to the sheik of the mosque explain some of Holy Koran. After the prayer, we walked to a store to buy some groceries needed for the food my host mom was going to fix that afternoon. My host mom explained that the mosque they went to was a small mosque, and that at Moustafa Mahmoud mosque, the whole square in front of the mosque would be full of people praying. As we walked the streets, I say my first glimpse of sheep being sacrificed. The story behind this is the main reason for this Eid. In the Holy Koran, there is a story about a prophet Ismail, who is instructed by God to kill his son. He prays about his and decides if it is God's will, then he will kill his son. The son also agrees to be killed since it is God's wish. The mother, however, does not like this idea at all, and will not allow it. In order to complete God's command, the prophet takes his son up to a mountain to be killed. Just as he is about to put the knife in his son's throat, the knife is stopped, and he is supposed to kill a sheep instead. So now, Muslims kill a sheep as a sacrifice to God, and are thankful that their children do not have to be killed. Every family that is able to buy, and kill a sheep is recommended to do so. The family keeps a small portion of the meat, and the rest is given to poor people. This time of the year is one of the few times for these people to have meat, so this act of service is very helpful. Shortly after returning home from the prayer, I went with my host parent to the street/square directly in front of our apartment. The place was busy with many sheep being sacrificed. You pick out your sheep to buy or that you have already reserved and a man begins to kill it. When the man cuts the sheep's neck, he must say "besm'allah" which means in the name of god. While I was out there, there were around five sheep being killed, cut, or skinned all the time. I thought I would be kind of freaked out by the process, but knowing the meaning behind it and the service within it, I appreciated the richness of this cultural tradition. When we got back to the house, it was only 8 in the morning, so I took a nap. When I woke up, my host mother was still cooking. See, a big component of this Eid is spending lots of time with your family, and eating lots of food. We got everything ready, and left around 2 to go to the villa in 6th of October. 6th of October is a city right outside of Cairo. My host family has a house there that has sections for all of my host mother's extended family. When we got there, my host grandparents, and my host mother's sisters and their families were all there. We all talked and hung around until the meal was ready. Besides eating the sheep meat, a dish called fattah is another main component of this holiday. It is rice with pieces of pita bread mixed in and then topped with tomato sauce. It is very good. Also, there were several other meat pies, and bechemel pasta. It was all very filling. After dinner, the cousins and I played ping-pong for a while, and then we got ready to go to the movies. Going to the cinema is also a very popular activity during Eid. All of the family and I went to an Arab comedy. It was in Arabic. I followed it for the first half, and then after the intermission I fell asleep. It was a late movie, so I was tired already. We got back to our apartment in Mohandiseen around 1:30am. I went to sleep shortly after getting back. The next morning, we woke up and got ready to go to my host mom's younger sister's house. We were going there for breakfast. We got here around twelve. It was a traditional Saudi Arabian breakfast. The bread was bigger than normal and the fuul was prepared in a different manner. We drank tea and then we stayed in the apartment for most of the afternoon. Then around 4 we went to my host mom's other sister's house for lunch/dinner. It was a similar meal to that of the night before with sheep, fattah, and various meat pies. We all talked, drank tea, and ate dessert. We all left and then went to the club, and sat and talked some more. The next day we went to the club, and we sat with all the family for several hours. I drank tea, and worked on my Arabic homework. That night, I went with my friends for a while. We went to a few stores, and then we went to Courtney's house for a while. On Monday, the last day of Eid, I worked on some of my assignments for school, and then that afternoon, I went with my host sister, Malak, and her friend to the movies. We went and saw New Moon. I had a good time with her. They went back to the club to meet the rest of the family, but the club was being strict because of Eid and checking everyone's membership, so i didn't feel like paying to get in so I went back home. Eid left me with a full stomach, and a further appreciation of family, especially my family back home.