And so Ramadan ends with feasts (feast is the translation of eid), three days of feasts to be exact. Though I have been trying to embrace what is going on around me, I must say I am quite relieved for Ramadan to be over. I am excited to have something to do during the day. I am excited for my friends to be available to hang out, and not dead exhausted all the time. I'm excited to go out to restaurants, get lentil soup (not a Ramadan food), and be able to eat outside. Ramadan was a cool experience, but doing it during high summer and without a family... well let's just say I'm not in a rush to do it again.
I am spending my Eid in 6 October with my good friend Hagar (who took me to Beni Suef). For our last iftar we had traditional eid foods which I would describe as dried fish eggs, slimy smoked fish, and slimy rotten fish. It was a very pungent meal, but it wasn't bad. I personally couldn't do more than small amounts of each, but the little I had was enjoyable and an experience at very least.
At 5 am this morning I went with Hagar, her mother, and her uncle to morning prayers at Must mosque in Mutamiaz, 6 October (photo to be posted soon). I believe it is the second largest mosque in 6 Oh. It drew quite a crowd. The sprawling lawn in back was set up to accommodate the Holiday rush of worshipers including mats on the grass and a decider between the men and women. Prayers always start with a call to prayer played from every minaret, but today a special addition was added to the call. "God is great," was chanted on repeat for perhaps a solid 30 minutes (maybe more) before the actual prayer started. Then we prayed (I went through the motions in line with them all swaddled up in cloth to hide my seductive female form), and sat and listened to the sermon before Hagar headed off to work. I went back to her house to sleep. Now I'm hoping that some friend in 6 Oh will be free to hang out so I can kill sometime until this evening when I take Hagar out to a long awaited birthday dinner.
If I can swing it, I hope to spend the second day of Eid with Nana before my host aunt and uncle head back to Saudi Arabia. But after that I am just so excited to (hopefully) see my friends more often!
I am spending my Eid in 6 October with my good friend Hagar (who took me to Beni Suef). For our last iftar we had traditional eid foods which I would describe as dried fish eggs, slimy smoked fish, and slimy rotten fish. It was a very pungent meal, but it wasn't bad. I personally couldn't do more than small amounts of each, but the little I had was enjoyable and an experience at very least.
At 5 am this morning I went with Hagar, her mother, and her uncle to morning prayers at Must mosque in Mutamiaz, 6 October (photo to be posted soon). I believe it is the second largest mosque in 6 Oh. It drew quite a crowd. The sprawling lawn in back was set up to accommodate the Holiday rush of worshipers including mats on the grass and a decider between the men and women. Prayers always start with a call to prayer played from every minaret, but today a special addition was added to the call. "God is great," was chanted on repeat for perhaps a solid 30 minutes (maybe more) before the actual prayer started. Then we prayed (I went through the motions in line with them all swaddled up in cloth to hide my seductive female form), and sat and listened to the sermon before Hagar headed off to work. I went back to her house to sleep. Now I'm hoping that some friend in 6 Oh will be free to hang out so I can kill sometime until this evening when I take Hagar out to a long awaited birthday dinner.
If I can swing it, I hope to spend the second day of Eid with Nana before my host aunt and uncle head back to Saudi Arabia. But after that I am just so excited to (hopefully) see my friends more often!
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