Ramadan About to End, Eid About to Begin

     When the fasting month, Ramadan, ends. Eid is to follow. Eid is a Muslim festival. It lasts for a few days. There are two Eids in the Hegri calendar. One is the incoming one, after Ramadhan, which lasts for three days. The other is after the pilgrimage to Mecca the holy city. Lasts for four days. First one is known as "Eid Al-Fetr", second one is known as "Eid Al-Adha". But we rarely call them those, better known as "The small Eid" and "The big Eid". Easier huh??

     Eid is an Arabic word that means festival. And it is a festival by all means. Just today I went to Al-Mansour neighborhood. This is a place were you can buy clothes, all kind of clothes, it probably has about five hundred clothing stores there. It so crowded you would have to stand right in front of the stores window if you wanted to look inside. Everybody is buying new clothes for Eid. Parents buying gifts for their children. Eid always brings me the nicest of memories. When I was a child my parents would always put gifts and new clothes for me and my brother in our room during the nigh, so when we wake up they are just there, out of nowhere. I knew it was them. I tried so often to stay awake as much as possible to see when they put them, I would start reading stories in the night to stay awake, then I would go to the bathroom every now and then to wash my face so I can stay awake, but I never succeeded. I would always fall asleep before they come. I don't know if they did it during the night, or early in the morning.

     Eid really begins when on the first day, people would gather in the mosque, very early in the morning. About sunrise. They would gather there, and would say the "Takberat Al-Eid". It's not a song, but it does have this rhythm. I guess the huge number of people saying it gives it this rhythm. It is always a pleasant thing to listen to, and begin Eid with.

     The thing that makes Eid so special, is the gatherings. People would start going to their relatives and neighbors to congratulate them. Usually the Mosul Family would come too. Despite the long and hard road, they come. Because there is nothing more fun than the whole family in a single room. We are talking about 30 peoples here. All in a single house. We used to go out at night to have a dinner in a restaurant or something. One time, I don't think the Mosul family was there in it, my memory is vivid, but I don't remember them in it. However, we all went to a restaurant at 14 St. Ramadan to eat. We split into too tables, adults and non-adults. I was a non-adult then, but I was the eldest, it feels good to be a leader even for a bunch of kids. On that day I wanted to try something new, so I ordered something called "Tornado" which I hadn't heard of before or tasted. I wanted to try something new. I remember it tasted good, but smelled horrible.

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