Blog 11: Sonya

On this trip, we were able to experience  Eid Al-Adha in the village. Eid Al-Adha or Eid Al-Kabir is the biggest Islamic holiday. Before the day of Eid, we heard about the history of the significance behind the holiday. The stories that the prophet Abraham was sent a message from God to sacrifice his son, Ismael. With great sadness, he began to set up an altar on which he could complete the sacrifice. That’s when the angel Gabriel came down and told him that he had shown his devotion to God, and he could sacrifice a nearby cattle rather than his son. From this event, the holiday of Eid began.


On the morning of Eid, we woke up to the sounds of children playing in the streets. Many group members purchased traditional Moroccan clothing and accessories for the day of Eid. After getting ready for the day, we ate breakfast with our host families. My family had a chocolate cake and a type of flatbread similar to Paratha called Mlawi. At this time, many of the men in the village were returning from the morning prayer and sermon at the mosque. As one of the key elements of Eid is a sacrificing of the lamb after breakfast, each family was given a lamb to sacrifice in front of their home. At this time we were outside with our host siblings, and other community members. During the sacrifice, I observed how quick and seemingly painless the transition from life to death was. In the United States, our meat industry is incredibly inhumane. Despite the sacrifice occurring directly in front of us, the process seemed quite humane, and you could see people comforting the animals before the sacrifice. Another observation I had was that every part of the animal was utilized by the community, and there wasn’t any waste.


After the sacrifice, we spent time outside in the community while our host families prepared lunch. There was this heightened sense of joy and energy in the entire community. The kids are playing games in the streets and community members would often invite you in for tea and food. Over the course of the day, we learned how to make traditional dishes with our host moms, played games with the kids, and ate a ton of food. Eid Mubarak everyone!

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