Or 'jezna piroz be' as the Kurdish say.
Another year has gone by. Ramadan has come and gone and yesterday was Eid for many people. I was invited to Bakhtiar and Shano's house for breakfast. Without realising, this was the 4th year that I've gone to their house to celebrate Eid/Jezna.
I always arrive very early as Shano usually asks me to get there as early as possible in the morning, so that I can 'help' her out with the cooking. Actually, the fact is that I actually don't help her at all, but cause her more trouble due to my clumsiness, and also because she already started her cooking the night before. But, I guess I give her some female company during the cooking and preparation process, as there are no other women in the house, and now I can play with Baran to keep him out of the kitchen!
The 10 minute drive from my house to their flat is pretty clear- the roads are always empty at that time in the morning, and I can even spot those families who are visiting the mosque for the Eid morning prayer; particularly yesterday as it was a Sunday.
If you go visit people during Eid, you will be offered sweets, drinks and klecha; which are small pastries filed with dates or sesame seeds, nuts and cocomut.
Things don't really change, here are the pictures that I took back on 20 September 2009, for the same meal. It's almost identical....except Shano and I ate in one of the rooms. In terms of the family, there is an added extra toddler (Baran) and another on the way.
Another year has gone by. Ramadan has come and gone and yesterday was Eid for many people. I was invited to Bakhtiar and Shano's house for breakfast. Without realising, this was the 4th year that I've gone to their house to celebrate Eid/Jezna.
I always arrive very early as Shano usually asks me to get there as early as possible in the morning, so that I can 'help' her out with the cooking. Actually, the fact is that I actually don't help her at all, but cause her more trouble due to my clumsiness, and also because she already started her cooking the night before. But, I guess I give her some female company during the cooking and preparation process, as there are no other women in the house, and now I can play with Baran to keep him out of the kitchen!
The 10 minute drive from my house to their flat is pretty clear- the roads are always empty at that time in the morning, and I can even spot those families who are visiting the mosque for the Eid morning prayer; particularly yesterday as it was a Sunday.
If you go visit people during Eid, you will be offered sweets, drinks and klecha; which are small pastries filed with dates or sesame seeds, nuts and cocomut.
So, as I mentioned, the cooking started the night before. Chicken and meat pieces are cooked, ready for frying. Fasollah (beans) are cooked in tomato puree. Dried apricots are cooked to make a soup. Shirrah is made by frying vermiccelli, raisins and sometimes almonds. And then there's the rice.
Things don't really change, here are the pictures that I took back on 20 September 2009, for the same meal. It's almost identical....except Shano and I ate in one of the rooms. In terms of the family, there is an added extra toddler (Baran) and another on the way.
Celebrations are never the same when you're not in your own country. It's not really that special. Nothing exciting happens and there's noone to celebrate it with you. Even Bayar, who's 10 years old, said that he doesn't like Eid here in the UK because it's boring; in Kurdistan he has lots of friends and people to play with. I guess these tradiational and cultural celebrations always remind us 'foreigners' of where we came from and the good times of how we used to celebrate. I feel the same, but now our Chinese church has developed a good community spirit and we always celebrate in style, so it's not too bad!
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