Eid Mubarak, again.

Tomorrow* is Eid al-Adha, or Korbani Eid as it is known in Bangladesh. It is the festival of sacrifice, in which any family with the means to do so is expected to sacrifice an animal. The animal is then divided into thirds: one third for the poor, one third for extended family and neighbors, and one third for the family itself. Apparently the history behind the holiday comes from the story of Abraham, in which he was prepared to sacrifice his son as an act of devotion, but God provided a lamb to sacrifice instead.

Following tradition, the typical sacrifice in the Muslim world is a goat or a lamb, and there are plenty of those around. (Today I saw a sheep riding in a rickshaw. Really, never a dull moment.) However, Bangladesh being Bangladesh, they diverge a bit from tradition here: instead of goats and lambs, the animals being sacrificed mostly seem to be cows. There are cows everywhere. Walking down the streets, tied to trees, riding in trucks, everywhere. Every house seems to have at least one cow somewhere on the property. We have three of them in our garage, along with several goats. It's a veritable mooing, bleating farmland idyll down there.






There is even somewhat of a festival atmosphere, at least more so than during Eid ul-Fitr, which was just eerily quiet. Many of the cows are adorned with garlands of flowers and shiny decorativeness, and there was even a small band playing in the street today.




Kaya thinks the whole thing is fantastic, but that's because he doesn't really know what comes next. He has been told that the animals are on a field trip to the city and that they will be going back to their farms tomorrow. (Yes, by his mother.) He also knows that, coincidentally enough, tomorrow is movie day! This means that we get to stay inside the whole day and sit on the couch and watch as many movies as he wants, at very high volume to drown out any unpleasant sounds from outside! We have stocked up on groceries, made cookies, and otherwise ensured that there will be no need to step outdoors at any point tomorrow. Wish us luck.....


* Wikipedia says that Eid was supposed to be today. However, Bangladesh celebrated Eid ul-Fitr several days after the rest of the Muslim world last October, so clearly we are on our own timetable here.