Day 4- Eid Mubarak!!!

Sunday September 20th, 2009

EID MUBARAAAK!!! كل عام و انتم بخير

We said goodbye to Ramadan, as it quickly came and went, and today we celebrated Eid! It's my first Eid in an Arabic country in more than 18 years! So, I was really looking forward to it.

First, Talal, Bassam, and I went to the masjid for Eid Prayer. Kristi didnt want to take the baby out since it would be a crowded place. The masjid was very close to our apartment and we made it just in time. The prayer was pretty amazing mashallah! It made me miss my family back in the US so very much!

After the prayer, people were passing out money (3eedeya) and candy to the little kids. Some were passing out sweets to the women to, so I got some chocolate :) There were some going around pouring coffee for everyone.

Afterwards, we went back home and took naps, since we haven't slept since yesterday. We were up all night since our sleep is still messed up!

At around 4:00 pm we met up with Talal and Kristi and we went to some Eid festivities they had outdoors. It was like a carnival or circus, with rides and shows and stunts and a shopping bazaar. So it was kind of neat, but it was mostly for kids.

We left to drive around and then we find a good parking place to watch the fireworks. They had 7 different locations for the fireworks going on, starting today, and continuing for 4 days, everynight! From where we were parked, since we were on a high hill, we managed to see 3 of the 7 at the same time. It was pretty neat.

After the fireworks, we felt it was still too early to go home, so we went to the Diplamotic Quarters, it's the heavly guarded area where all the world's embassys are. There was a big outdoor area where they had a traditional tent with men dancing traditional Saudi dances and singing songs. One guy was also reciting traditional poetry.

All of a sudden, a crowd walked in and sat infront of the tent, and we find out it's the Prince from the Royal family, Prince Sattaam. There was a lot of people around him, so we couldn't really get a good look. He stayed for a few minutes, and after he left, the dancing and singing went on.

There was a lot of people, and since it was in the Diplomatic Quarters, there was plenty of foreingers.

After we ate, we walked around a bit, took pictures, which I will post inshAllah, we decided to go home since it was almost midnight (even though I was not getting sleepy yet).

It's past 1 am now and I'm still not sleepy. I will go eat some cereal.

Good night.

Much Love, HKA in KSA