Eid ul Azha

Eid ul Azha, a 3 day muslim celebration known as the festival of sacrifice is today into its final day. Yesterday we joined in the family celebrations with our colleague, Rois.

We decided to again don the local dress for the momentous occasion. Sarah enlisted the help of the security guard to get the sari right.

The rickshaw and various other forms of local transport were no mean feat in a sari. Respect for the locals' ability to manage increases by the day.

Vicky, a UK OT student joined us for the day. (Pictured above with Rois, our host). We began to feel like celebrities as several different family combinations were photographed with us. (There could be about 8 more similar pictures inserted here.)The family sacrificed a cow - just before we arrived (we weren't upset not to witness such an event). We'd certainly seen our share of sacrifices in the streets on the way out. The sacrifice is then divided into various portions - some for family members some to be given to the poor.

Then the day of eating began. This is one example of the numerous bowls of sweet, noodle desserts we were offered. This was followed by rice and chicken (times 2) then more noodles, then rice and beef, cha, more sweet dishes, more drinks etc.
We then lugged our swollen bellys through the village to visit numerous family members, friends of family and 'friends of friends' of family of our host.

On the way we saw the local village sights including the school (above). And some home-made bridges which become particularly necessary during the rainy season.

After much force-feeding and amazing hospitality by our host and his family, we returned to CRP and attempted to participate in a basketball match with some Hindu friends who did not have the same family commitments during this public holiday period.