This is the name for the holiday that is coming up next weekend. The book I read said that this the most important religious and secular holiday of the year. It is as important to the Muslims as Christmas is to Christians. The festival commemorates Ibrahim’s near sacrifice of his son on Mt Moriah. It is a similar story to the biblical tale about Abraham and Isaac. The story goes that when Ibrahim was about to sacrifice his son he was stopped and told to slaughter an animal instead. Every year about 4 million cows and sheep are sacrificed. Apparently most of the sacrifices are done in the country not in the cities. After the sacrifice the meat is given to organizations that help the poor so the meat goes to a good cause. The banks and government offices are closed and lots of people travel.
Our school is closed for an entire week as well which, of course, gives us a chance to travel. This will be our first major trip since we arrived in Eskisehir. We have train tickets that leave Eskisehir at 2:30 next Friday morning!! Then we get into Istanbul (the Asian side) early in the morning and go to the smaller airport in Istanbul where we catch the flight for Milan. It will be interesting to see how well we handle getting up in the middle of the night to catch a train. I’m sure it will be another adventure which is what this whole thing is about!
So, the night train to Istanbul. How exotic! Will you be in Milan all week - or have you decided yet? Sounds like a great time!
ReplyDeleteI am impressed with your tolerance for change. Not only are you trying to learn how to live in another country, but then you take a train, hop on a plane and go to yet another country. I am exhausted by all that you do. I think I'll go take a nap.
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