Bakra Eid aka Goodbye Hairy Scary Goats!

I must first apologize for my sacrilegious humor. I do have a history with goats in India that make this holiday personally a bit humorous. That's another story (but for those who know the penguin story it is very similar=)

Bakra Eid is the festival when one remembers the provision that was made for Abraham when he was asked to sacrifice his son. I can truly appreciate and celebrate this festival. On this day it is customary for people to give meat to each other. Traditionally worldwide lamb is given. Here lamb is very expensive so goat is usually given or water buffalo. For people with more money, camel meat is given. If one has the money, they are to buy a goat and give 1/3 to the poor, 1/3 to their community and extended family, and the rest they get to keep.

It is also customary for the sons/brothers to buy their sisters and mother a new suit (salwar kameez). I was honored when the brothers of my language helper bought me a new suit for BakraEid.

I was able to join the family for a nice meal and my language helper, her mother, and I wore our new suits. The meal was lovely. It was funny to be present while several people came by with bags of meat as a gift. Then that meat was passed on to another family by my family. I think it's a beautiful way to demonstrated God's provision.

Here are some pictures from the day...

The family: Zarina (language helper), Sarya (mother), Rizwan (youngest brother), Saleem (older brother)...missing Sameer (eldest brother)




This is Zarina's youngest cousin showing off her new lehnga. Isn't she adorable!



Nani (name for maternal grandma)

Zarina and I took our turn at posing....

Introducing the next big Bollywood Star...Zarina Khan!!!

Of course with any celebration we do mehendi!
On my way home...

Tree Trimming with Ringen

It is my family's tradition to go pick out a tree, cut it down, bring it home and decorate it the day after Thanksgiving. I didn't go cut this one down nor was I able to put it up the day after Thanksgiving but it was an adventure to get it and the things to decorate it.

It took going to 2 Christmas Markets (American and German) and about 5 other shops/markets to find what I needed. First on my list was to get the things I needed for my Advent wreath. I was able to find the candles and some green garland and small poinsettia blossoms to decorate them at Khan Market. It's a major expat oriented market with lots of export items. It also has the price tag to match. They have a special festival shop which changes what it carries for every possible major festival for all the major religions here and non-religious holidays.


After the Advent Wreath was ready then I set out for ornaments and a tree. My first Christmas Market was the American Women's Association held at the American Embassy School. I had fun hanging out with my friends Kathleen, Vivki, and Ringen. We ran into lots of people we knew. It was like taking a trip to the States for the day. We enjoyed grilled hamburgers, fries, and yummy desserts. I got my first ornament as a gift from Vicki.

I have a friend here who works with people who are HIV+. Her NGO tries to help these people find different ways to generate money and support themselves. This Christmas they made ornaments. I was able to buy my first ornaments from this group. I bought two packets. Each packet came with a ball ornament, a bell, and some large and small stars. The balls are paper mache. The bells and stars are carved out of wood. One of the ball ornaments has a nativity painted on it. I think it's my favorite.






Then next Christmas decoration hunt I went with some friends who were passing through and I took them to Dilli Haat. Dilli Haat is an amazing market. In the center of the market are food stalls with different food from all over Indian. You can choose which ever you like the best. The vendor stalls are also from all the different regions of India. They switch every 4-6 weeks. It's fun to go back every 6 weeks or so to see what's new. I foung some beautiful hand painted Christmas oranments from Kashmir. After making our way through Dilli Haat we went accross the street to INA Market to get the actual tree, lights, and the star.







Before Dilli Haat I had gone to the German Christmas Market with my shopping buddies, Kathleen and Vicki. It was a bit of a disappointment for me. I was expecting it to me like an actual Christmas Market in Germany and it wasn't. I didn't even have any German food=( Besides this bit of disappoinment I did have some very cool experiences there. I ran into several of my Japanese students. I got to speak in both German and Hindi. I found some cool cookbooks for Indian friendly German cooking that is written in both English and German. I was able to find some gifts and a few ornaments. The best surprise was at an NGO booth. I noticed it because it is based in the community where my language helper lives. I found out that they are the people who run the different classes that my language helper attends like sewing and photography. I got to meet my language helper's sweing teacher. They were selling cards with some of the pictures taken by the photography class on them. I was curoius and looked through a set. The last card was a picture of two of my language helper's brothers and her counsin in front of her house. I was excited to find her name on the back of the card as the photographer. I bought her a pack of the cards and myself a pack.

My friend Renee joined me for my last market stop. We went to an exporter's shop who only opens to the public for the month of December. Ususally, they only export their things to the States, Canada, and Europe. It was like walking into a Christmas Wonderland. We both stopped dead in our tracks once we reached the bottom of the stairs that lead to the shop and audible said together, "WOW!" Appearantly, most people have that reaction. While we were there everyone else that came in did the same thing. I bought some more ornaments and a tree skirt with matching stocking. I made sure to buy matching ornaments to send home to each of my family members. They loved them! I even found a lighthouse for my grandmother (she collects light houses). I also found some Chrismons (ornaments which our symbols of X). There will be no running around next year. This is the place to go if I need anything else.





After I got everything I needed to put the tree up and decorate it. It's no fun doing it yourself. My friend Ringen came over and we played Christmas music and decorated the tree together. Here's the end result....






I almost forgot the stocking and matching tree skirt....