EID MUBARAK! A much needed 5 day holiday in occuring here in Egypt.
Once again the streets are dead until dusk when everyone rushes home to break their fast. Traffic is at its absolute worst at this time. At around 8 or 9 when people have feasted, the streets, markets and malls open up again. This particular EID has alot of gift giving.
So the rumours of the EID traditions of 'slaghtering animals in the street' is hardly true. Well, they ARE true but CERTAINLY not as graphic as we were warned.
Basically, if one wants to participate in CLASSIC traditions, they will bring a sheep home from the butcher shop. The butcher shop is quite a sight around this season. They have flashing twinkling christmas lights around it and meat hanging everywhere. The butcher shops around the time of EID also turn into a bit of a farmyard with random animals fenced in in the front. You come in, pick your live animal, take it home in a truck and haul it up your apt. to the roof where it sits (quiet happily, i should add- being fed and fattened up) until it is killed for the feast.
Anyway, while some egyptians choose to slaughter their own animal, there are many wagons trotting around with butchers yelling out their service (so, if you have a sheep and do not want to kill it or have no idea how to prepare it, they will gladly do it for you)
Throughout the week i haven't seen anything crazy. Just really brightly lit, flashing butcher shops, wagons with men and boys covered in blood happily calling out their services and my personal favorite:
The toy shop window.
Okay, so EID sheep are treated very much like turkeys around Thanksgiving. They are characterized, cute and somewhat of an icon. We see commercials with eid sheep, and we do crafts at school with cottonballs and sing songs about wooly sheep- and then we go home and promptly slaughter them :P
Many egyptians choose not to participate in this because:
1. its gross.
2. its ALOT of meat even for a large family
3.its 'old-school' and most egyptians would much rather buy nicely sliced pre-packaged lamb from the large supermarkets
Also, its customary to take the blood of the sheep and smear it on family doors, windows, shops and cars for good luck.
No lie. We have seen this EVERYWHERE around egypt. Even if you don't have a sheep to kill. We have not been hit yet but this is another old tradition that doesn't not have much room in modern maadi. Its more in the older parts of the city.
Luther and I had sushi on our first night of EID. The next night we ordered indian. He got his sheep, i got my chicen and we both got our curry fix. :)
Once again the streets are dead until dusk when everyone rushes home to break their fast. Traffic is at its absolute worst at this time. At around 8 or 9 when people have feasted, the streets, markets and malls open up again. This particular EID has alot of gift giving.
So the rumours of the EID traditions of 'slaghtering animals in the street' is hardly true. Well, they ARE true but CERTAINLY not as graphic as we were warned.
Basically, if one wants to participate in CLASSIC traditions, they will bring a sheep home from the butcher shop. The butcher shop is quite a sight around this season. They have flashing twinkling christmas lights around it and meat hanging everywhere. The butcher shops around the time of EID also turn into a bit of a farmyard with random animals fenced in in the front. You come in, pick your live animal, take it home in a truck and haul it up your apt. to the roof where it sits (quiet happily, i should add- being fed and fattened up) until it is killed for the feast.
Anyway, while some egyptians choose to slaughter their own animal, there are many wagons trotting around with butchers yelling out their service (so, if you have a sheep and do not want to kill it or have no idea how to prepare it, they will gladly do it for you)
Throughout the week i haven't seen anything crazy. Just really brightly lit, flashing butcher shops, wagons with men and boys covered in blood happily calling out their services and my personal favorite:
The toy shop window.
Okay, so EID sheep are treated very much like turkeys around Thanksgiving. They are characterized, cute and somewhat of an icon. We see commercials with eid sheep, and we do crafts at school with cottonballs and sing songs about wooly sheep- and then we go home and promptly slaughter them :P
Many egyptians choose not to participate in this because:
1. its gross.
2. its ALOT of meat even for a large family
3.its 'old-school' and most egyptians would much rather buy nicely sliced pre-packaged lamb from the large supermarkets
Also, its customary to take the blood of the sheep and smear it on family doors, windows, shops and cars for good luck.
No lie. We have seen this EVERYWHERE around egypt. Even if you don't have a sheep to kill. We have not been hit yet but this is another old tradition that doesn't not have much room in modern maadi. Its more in the older parts of the city.
Luther and I had sushi on our first night of EID. The next night we ordered indian. He got his sheep, i got my chicen and we both got our curry fix. :)
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