Eid here, for us, has been pretty quiet and relaxing. Our lofty travel ideas did not come to fruition for the obvious reason that in a land full of Muslims, everyone is spending the holiday with …their family! So, urbndervish and I spent Eid with each other; our family of two. We caught up on some rest, enjoyed my favorite fruit dessert almost every morning for breakfast, and studied Arabic everyday. We did visit a few friends but only briefly. One of our Malay neighbors had us over for rice squares and spicy chilly peanut sauce, which was delish! So, to the beautiful people we’ve spend Eid with in the past: we really missed you this year! Thanks for sharing those special days with us!
As far as gifts, here’s a picture of the early Eid gifts I made for my nieces and nephew. They arrived to the U.S. just days before their return to West Africa with my brother.
And what do you do when you don't know where to buy cotton stuffing in Yemen or how to ask for it in Arabic???
Get Creative!
Here’s a link to an article written by a dear sister about how Eid is celebrated throughout the African diaspora. Click here.
What we noticed about Eid in Yemen is that most stores are closed for the entire three-day celebration. The ladies have their hands decorated with henna designs and little girls are wearing poofy dresses. After Eid, the city is alive and vibrant in the mornings again and people are eating around the clock.
During Eid, Yemenis will offer their guests a tasty assortment of pistachios, almonds, raisins, chocolates, cookies, etc. (I should’ve taken a picture for the blog but I can’t even begin to explain that in Arabic yet!) When I visited a few households for Eid, they kept saying “Kulee, Kulee”, which means “Eat! Eat!”. They want to know that you leave their house satiated in the least, stuffed at best. So, that was our first Eid in Yemen. Not too eventful but enjoyable, nonetheless.
