This is always a tough time of year to be away from the U.S. Thanksgiving has now come and gone and I have survived my third year away from family and friends on my favorite holiday. It helps a great deal to get together with other Americans during these holidays. Yesterday, our school director treated all the American employees (there were 8 of us, including the Director himself) to a huge lunch at a posh restaurant. We had wine, too much food, lots of laughs and an overwhelming urge for a nap afterwards. Too bad we all had to teach that evening.
Now that just leaves Christmas to get through. Luckily, we don't have to work that day. I don't think I could bear working on Christmas day. But the end of the fall semester always coincides with Christmas so the school is blessedly closed. Even though it's great to miss the over-commercialization of Christmas, it's not-so-great to miss your family, friends and the traditions of a Christmas tree, carols and holiday merrymaking.
Everyone here is in the final stages of Eid Khbir fever. There are lines of people outside every food stall, knives being sharpened for the sacrifical sheep who will succumb to the knife tomorrow morning, women scurrying to and from the bakery with trays of cookies, breads and sweets on their heads (these bakeries are ovens where goods prepared at home are baked for a small fee) and sheep being carted to homes and then carried up to terraces to enjoy their final moments. Everyone says all the cats disappear when the moment of the sacrifice arrives. As the medina is filled with cats, not seeing one is unusual. I wonder ... do the cats smell the blood or do they sense the panic and resignation of the sheep? Hard to say.
Regardless, tomorrow I will spend the day alone. I am teaching today but plan to stop by Cafe Clock tonight to buy some premade food for tomorrow as all shops will be closed up tight. I haven't had the time or desire to fight the crowds at the stores to lay in some food so I will once again turn to my ready food source at the cafe for nourishment. Some couscous, a plastic bowl of my own filled with homemade harira and the baguettes, cheese and eggs I have managed to purchase should see me through the day quite nicely.
I doubt I will even venture outside my door tomorrow. The teenaged boys will have set up their fires for roasting the sheeps' heads right outside my door and I want to turn a blind eye to the activities. No garbage pickup tomorrow, of course, so there will be lots of stuff I don't want to investigate thrown out on the streets too. I have a few movies to watch, several litres of linseed oil to paint my new cedarwood doors and windows and a book to get me through the day.
Holidays have taken on a whole new meaning for me. I'm not sure it's altogether to my liking but somehow I know it's good for me to have these experiences and cultivate the tolerance and understanding needed to appreciate what I miss and accept what I don't really resonate with.
3 comments:
Though you may be "home alone", know that you are in good company, as lots of other foreigners (including myself) all over have stocked up on food, and are planning to spend the weekend indoors. You are right when you mention that holidays take on a new significance when you are living outside your home country - I definitely don't miss the overcommercialization of holidays, but you end up recognizing and missing the truly important bits - the things that don't cost money, like time with loved ones, food shared together, etc. And though I don't agree with what happens during Eid el Kbir, I,too, am trying to separate my feelings of discomfort from the knowledge that lots of families all over Morocco are happy today to be off from work and spending time with their loved ones. For myself, I will enjoy spending some time indoors with a few good movies and books!
It is great to hear another American's perspective on Eid. I understand the significance of the holiday and it's meaning but the simultaneous blood-shedding is hard for me, saw a yard-wide river of blood and water flowing through the middle of a narrow street last year.
Evelyn, hope you had a good time with your movies and some peace and quiet. I remember passing a very enjoyable Eid (my first) inside my house with movies and supplies under a load of blankets two years ago. Good to see you're doing well.
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