2nd Eid

I am not terribly knowledgeable of Islam admittedly, but this weekend is 2^nd Eid, also known in English as Big Eid. It is the time when Muslims, who can, travel to Mecca for the Hajj – one of five actions to be up held as part of following Islam. It is also a five day weekend. And while for me that means life grinds to a near halt, there is a lot more activity around Kabul – many more people out on the street – most specifically, I have seen more women out and about than normal.

From my new guesthouse room, on the second floor facing the street, I can hear the neighborhood boys playing all day outside on the street. And, like boys everywhere, they are setting off celebratory firecracker. While a normal activity elsewhere, when you live in a city where popping or thudding noises give pause, it seems strange.

The good thing about the Eid weekend coinciding with Thanksgiving Day weekend, is it gave us something to do over the five...long…boring…days. Fortunately I attended both a T-day dinner on Thursday and a second “transitional” dinner on Friday. The latter was Thanksgiving themed food followed by a Christmas-y white-elephant gift exchange (I ended up with a bottle of balsamic vinegar in a red sequined zippered wine bag), a viewing of Charlie Brown Christmas special and The Grinch.

As I write, there are two more days-off to go. There is only so much internet (only available at the office), sleeping, reading, exercising and TV watching a person can handle.