Today is Eid al-Adha (pronounced Eid Al-uda). The second most important holiday in the Muslim calender which means a 4 day weekend as it is a national holiday.
For Muslims throughout the world, Eid al-Adha is quite a ritualistic experience, lasting days and fasting during daylight hours. Thousands of animals all over the world, are 'sacrificed' by the wealthy.
Now I know to the majority of you, this will have conjured up images of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, however, you would be so wrong. The 'Sacrifice' part in this ritual is that the animal offered has to be the best a wealthy person is able to afford.
The meat, which is obviously Halal and premium quality, is distributed so that the owner of the animal receives one third, whilst giving a third for their extended family and neighbours, and a final third to the poor.
We should have known our night would not go according to plan. Ordinarily, taxi's can be found within a couple of minutes of leaving our building, but not tonight. No, we waited well over half an hour, even giving up and walking to the Marina for a non alcoholic drink (the restaurants and cafes there do not have license to serve alcohol), with a view to waiting slightly later for a cab. As it was a long weekend, the roads were solid, and a journey which would normally take between five and ten minutes took over 40.
On
arrival
to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, we were greeted with fantastic reception
staff who unfortunately relayed the bad news; The bar is closed as it is a
dry day. We had the wrong days. It aparently started at 6pm (it was now 6.05pm) and lasts until 6pm Thursday... Five minutes late...
Feeling gutted and rather foolish at not having figured this out sooner, we had a bit of a nose around the hotel; I showed Ian where 360 (another bar, obviously currently closed) was. We took some fantastic picture of the Burj Al Arab, and sat down to a pepsi and mint tea. Mint Tea when I was expecting wine...?!?! We were both so despondent, we hardly talked and the pair of us sat on facebook most of the evening until we (queued again) for our taxi home, where we ate bad pizzas bought from Carrefore. Oh the evils of no alcohol!
Oddly, and irritatingly for us - well me anyway, whilst the rest of the Muslim world is on holiday, the JFL League starts tonight - the night when across the world, people will be sitting down to huge dinners with their families, extended families and friends. This is the league in which the Arsenal Soccer School Dubai compete against other schools from Dubai and unsurprisingly, as Eid is traditionally a time when people travel to see family and take holidays, two teams have pulled out as they are unable to field enough players. Unfortunately, Arsenal Soccer School Dubai are not one of them.
This sadly means that Ian is working tonight. We were both invited to dinner a new friends house with the girls and she is cooking for us, so I will be going on my own. There will however be vino... Roll on tonight!!
Eid
al Adha (or the Greater Eid as it is also know) is the Festival Of
Sacrifice, and remembers prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his
son when God ordered him to.
For Muslims throughout the world, Eid al-Adha is quite a ritualistic experience, lasting days and fasting during daylight hours. Thousands of animals all over the world, are 'sacrificed' by the wealthy.
Now I know to the majority of you, this will have conjured up images of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, however, you would be so wrong. The 'Sacrifice' part in this ritual is that the animal offered has to be the best a wealthy person is able to afford.
The meat, which is obviously Halal and premium quality, is distributed so that the owner of the animal receives one third, whilst giving a third for their extended family and neighbours, and a final third to the poor.
Eid finishes with big family banquets to mark the occasion. The theory behind this is a perfect illustration of the Muslim culture with Family, Community and Charity being at the heart of it.
 |
| The Uptown Bar |
Ian and I, having heard that bars would be closed on Thursday, and no alcohol would be served in restaurants, decided to go out and get a cheeky couple before the imposed 24 hour ban, and agreed on going to Uptown Bar, on the 24th Floor of the Jumeriah Beach Hotel.
We should have known our night would not go according to plan. Ordinarily, taxi's can be found within a couple of minutes of leaving our building, but not tonight. No, we waited well over half an hour, even giving up and walking to the Marina for a non alcoholic drink (the restaurants and cafes there do not have license to serve alcohol), with a view to waiting slightly later for a cab. As it was a long weekend, the roads were solid, and a journey which would normally take between five and ten minutes took over 40.
 |
| The Burj Al Arab |
Feeling gutted and rather foolish at not having figured this out sooner, we had a bit of a nose around the hotel; I showed Ian where 360 (another bar, obviously currently closed) was. We took some fantastic picture of the Burj Al Arab, and sat down to a pepsi and mint tea. Mint Tea when I was expecting wine...?!?! We were both so despondent, we hardly talked and the pair of us sat on facebook most of the evening until we (queued again) for our taxi home, where we ate bad pizzas bought from Carrefore. Oh the evils of no alcohol!
Oddly, and irritatingly for us - well me anyway, whilst the rest of the Muslim world is on holiday, the JFL League starts tonight - the night when across the world, people will be sitting down to huge dinners with their families, extended families and friends. This is the league in which the Arsenal Soccer School Dubai compete against other schools from Dubai and unsurprisingly, as Eid is traditionally a time when people travel to see family and take holidays, two teams have pulled out as they are unable to field enough players. Unfortunately, Arsenal Soccer School Dubai are not one of them.
This sadly means that Ian is working tonight. We were both invited to dinner a new friends house with the girls and she is cooking for us, so I will be going on my own. There will however be vino... Roll on tonight!!
No comments:
Post a Comment