Hi. How are you all? Two days ago was the first day of the Sacrifice Feast (Al-Adha). The Sacrifice Feast is the second and the biggest holiday for us as Muslims, but actually in Egypt we celebrate it together: Christians before Muslims! Al-Adha is four days and the most important thing that distinguishes it is “the slaughter of sacrificial animal” and giving its meat to family and the poor, but the ones who carry out this task here is the men. For me, the holiday boils down to main three things: The first is the “Eid Prayer”. It’s performed on the first day within a few minutes after sunrise. People come out of their homes, gather in the mosques and spacious squares to perform the prayer. For me that’s the best part of the holiday, and the best part is the joy and pleasure because it allows me to watch the sunrise over the Nile river while I’m on my way to pray. This isn’t allowed for me on normal days because there’s no way I can go out alone at such an early hour because I’m a girl! It’s a real pity! The second thing is “al-fatta”. And what do you know about al-fatta! It’s the best creation my mom cooks, and it’s considered the main meal for the Adha feast. It consists of rice, bread, and meat prepared in a certain way. But believe me: he who hasn’t tasted al-fatta before is missing out. The third thing that is important to me is “al-eidiah” and that’s been an essential holiday ritual ever since I was little. “Eidiah” is an amount of money–whatever its value–we get from our relatives (uncle, grandfather, whoever) when we get together on the holiday. However, I never get too old for “al-eidiah!” I spend the rest of the days at home, eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating. I can’t go out or hang out because of the excessive crowds and the harassment and filth that comes with it. For me, the holiday is thus over. But it’s not over for kids, and boys. Kids spend all day playing in the street with “dynamite and bomb”–which are firecrackers. And they keep throwing them on everyone who passes by. I won’t deny that this stuff used to be fun for me, and I’d play with them too, But now it has just become annoying for me, or you can say that the older I get the less I care about the holiday. On the other hand, boys feel differently about the holiday all together, full of adventure and action. But it’d better for one of them to tell you about their experiences Happy Blessed Adha Feast, all of you!