Aselamu Aleikum Everyone,
DISCLAIMER: An important part of Eid is the sacrifice of the ram, something that is uncommon to witness in America, there may be videos or photos in this post that some may find unsettling, but are now part of my experience in Morocco, and I will share them for those who wish to see.
I want to wish everyone a belated happy Eid-al-Adtha, the holiday commemorating Abraham sacrificing a ram, instead of his son Ishmael (Issac in Christian tradition).
Eid was something I have never experienced before coming to Morocco, and it was incredibly interesting, intriguing, and a glimpse into a tradition only experienced in Muslim countries.
The night before Eid, last Tuesday was when we realized how different the next few days would be, the usually busy streets, filled with vendors, and shoppers, were emptying as the day went on. The only businesses still operating were the knife vendors, the knife sharpeners, and the sweet sellers. There were literal mobs at the last few cookie stands open, as people tried to get what was left for the feast.
Following breakfast we had some time before the king sacrifices the first ram on national television, unfortunately I caught the tail end of that and only saw the king departing the sacrifice site. Following the kings sacrifice, families may begin to sacrifice their rams (and sometimes bulls).
Our host father took us out into the street, where the skins of rams who had already been sacrificed were drying, and there was a large fire for the communal cooking of the heads was taking place.
After this site, we returned to the house.
After another short pause in activity, the two butchers who would be sacrificing our rams arrived at the house, and we all went to the roof where our sacrifices were enjoying their last morning of freedom. As the butchers prepared the site, I watched on with curiosity.
Finally, it was time for the first ram, and I have to say, I was impressed with the efficiency, and humaneness of the operation. The rams throat was cut, it was bled out, before being hoisted up onto a tree limb for the butchering, which is done by blowing air into the carcass, to make skinning easier.
The whole thing was over in about twenty minutes, and the entire family helped, from the mother cleaning up, the father helping hold the ram, and even Omar (5), my youngest host brother, imitating his father's every action, trying to stay out of the way, and act like he was heavily involved.
The second ram was done in much the same way, after a resharpening of knives, and cleaning of the site.
The organs were removed, and placed in a large bucket to be taken to the kitchen, and the meat was left to drain.
How it works is on day one of Eid, the organs of the ram are eaten, stomach, lung, heart, liver
And on the second day, you eat the actual meat.
A third or the ram goes to the family, a third to the poor, and a third is given away to friends.
Lunch is prepared inside the house, in the middle of the living room on a small grill, with my host father making organ shishkabobs which I did not eat. Thank God my host mother served chicken as well.
Dinner was also organs in a sort of stew, I again declined and opted for the chicken.
Day two was similar to day one, including the early breakfast, and later than normal lunch and dinner, this time however we ate meat shishkabobs and kefta(ground lamb patties).
My host father took the family to the beach to play soccer, something very common on Eid.
That was pretty much my entire experience, some family members came to visit, but not as many as I expected, supposedly this had to do with my host mother's mother being away on the hajj, but I am not entirely sure.
On Thursday I was able to skype with the solid six from back home, and it was great to talk them all and catch up with what is going on back at Catholic
On Friday friends and I departed for Chefchauen, which I will blog about hopefully later today so I will finally be caught up.
Allah Ma3ck
Kevin
Arabic Word of the Day
كبش- Kbsh- Ram
DISCLAIMER: An important part of Eid is the sacrifice of the ram, something that is uncommon to witness in America, there may be videos or photos in this post that some may find unsettling, but are now part of my experience in Morocco, and I will share them for those who wish to see.
I want to wish everyone a belated happy Eid-al-Adtha, the holiday commemorating Abraham sacrificing a ram, instead of his son Ishmael (Issac in Christian tradition).
Omar with our rams
Last minute purchases
Eid was something I have never experienced before coming to Morocco, and it was incredibly interesting, intriguing, and a glimpse into a tradition only experienced in Muslim countries.
The night before Eid, last Tuesday was when we realized how different the next few days would be, the usually busy streets, filled with vendors, and shoppers, were emptying as the day went on. The only businesses still operating were the knife vendors, the knife sharpeners, and the sweet sellers. There were literal mobs at the last few cookie stands open, as people tried to get what was left for the feast.
Knife Sharpener
Charcoal Salesman
Knives for sale
I went to bed late Tuesday night, anticipating that I would be able to sleep in the following morning, this was not the case. I was awoken by the children at around 8am to come downstairs for breakfast. Similar to how American schools have a winter break that coincides with Christmas, Morocco has a break during the week of Eid. Traditional families go to the mosque to pray before breakfast on Eid, my family does not really practice Islam and therefore did not. At breakfast we had fresh baked bread, and something similar to crepes, that I eat often here but have not yet learned the name of. Instead of the usual honey and jams provided, there was a butter-honey that was pretty good, but made me feel very unhealthy. The breads were also different then what we usually eat, these had spices such as rosemary baked into it, and were baked into the shape of what can be described as a star, the points representing the horns of the ram, the cookies were also shaped in this fashion.Following breakfast we had some time before the king sacrifices the first ram on national television, unfortunately I caught the tail end of that and only saw the king departing the sacrifice site. Following the kings sacrifice, families may begin to sacrifice their rams (and sometimes bulls).
Our host father took us out into the street, where the skins of rams who had already been sacrificed were drying, and there was a large fire for the communal cooking of the heads was taking place.
After this site, we returned to the house.
Communal fire
After another short pause in activity, the two butchers who would be sacrificing our rams arrived at the house, and we all went to the roof where our sacrifices were enjoying their last morning of freedom. As the butchers prepared the site, I watched on with curiosity.
Finally, it was time for the first ram, and I have to say, I was impressed with the efficiency, and humaneness of the operation. The rams throat was cut, it was bled out, before being hoisted up onto a tree limb for the butchering, which is done by blowing air into the carcass, to make skinning easier.
The whole thing was over in about twenty minutes, and the entire family helped, from the mother cleaning up, the father helping hold the ram, and even Omar (5), my youngest host brother, imitating his father's every action, trying to stay out of the way, and act like he was heavily involved.
The second ram was done in much the same way, after a resharpening of knives, and cleaning of the site.
The organs were removed, and placed in a large bucket to be taken to the kitchen, and the meat was left to drain.
How it works is on day one of Eid, the organs of the ram are eaten, stomach, lung, heart, liver
And on the second day, you eat the actual meat.
A third or the ram goes to the family, a third to the poor, and a third is given away to friends.
Lunch is prepared inside the house, in the middle of the living room on a small grill, with my host father making organ shishkabobs which I did not eat. Thank God my host mother served chicken as well.
Dinner was also organs in a sort of stew, I again declined and opted for the chicken.
Day two was similar to day one, including the early breakfast, and later than normal lunch and dinner, this time however we ate meat shishkabobs and kefta(ground lamb patties).
My host father took the family to the beach to play soccer, something very common on Eid.
That was pretty much my entire experience, some family members came to visit, but not as many as I expected, supposedly this had to do with my host mother's mother being away on the hajj, but I am not entirely sure.
On Thursday I was able to skype with the solid six from back home, and it was great to talk them all and catch up with what is going on back at Catholic
On Friday friends and I departed for Chefchauen, which I will blog about hopefully later today so I will finally be caught up.
Allah Ma3ck
Kevin
Arabic Word of the Day
كبش- Kbsh- Ram
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