Things that are different: The Day of Sacrifice

Here is Dave with our village leader, a kind man that we respect and appreciate.  To the left you can see the girls and women working on the smaller pieces of meat.  Giant tarps are spread out on the front patio of the mosque to keep the wet, blood, and slime contained.  To the right you can see the men in the background working on the larger animals.

The Muslim community in our neighborhood recently celebrated Idul Ahda, or the Day of Sacrifice.  On the Sunday before the holiday, Dave joined the neighborhood work party to cut the grass and rake leaves in the field adjoining our local mosque.  It is custom to have a work party, kerja bakti, every month and Dave joins when he can.  A few days later the neighborhood children, including our own, were delighted to see 6 goats and 2 cows grazing there.  I didn't have the heart to tell Jonathan they would be slaughtered on the spot the next morning …maybe next year when he's five.  On weeks like this I just want to be a vegetarian.  

The animals were delivered the  day before.  The neighborhood children all came and giggled and gawked like it was a petting zoo.  The animals grazed nervously.  I wonder how they liked all of the chanting and activity at the mosque all night long.  

The night before Idul Adha is one of the noisiest of the year -- even more so than the eve of Idul Fitri, when the adults are tired after a month of fasting.  Starting at 6:30 pm, parades of batik-clad children rotate the streets to the beat of drums and Islamic music.  Then the volume is turned up on the mosque speakers and the chanting begins.  First the boys of the community take turns, and then the men, for several hours.  "Allahu Akbar," the takbir, over and over.  Oh, and did I mention there were also fireworks?  About 10 pm or so, the community leaves the mosque and someone puts on a recording which keeps the chant going at high volume…..all….night….long….until 8 am or so when it is time for the sacrifice to begin.

As outsiders not involved in the festivities, this is a hard night for us.  We worry about the boys sleeping.  They did, though.  Jonathan slept through the night without any problems.  Joshua I did give some antihistamine because we are night weaning him and I felt he needed a little extra help.  Dave puts in his earplugs PLUS noise reducing headphones with white noise playing.  He even slept with the ear muffs for part of the night.  I don't hear the sound quite as much as Dave, but it does get wearying after several hours and especailly in bed when it's finally time to go to sleep.  And every hour waking up to hear it still and then try to go back to sleep again.  When the speakers are finally turned off in the morning, the silence is truly golden!

\
In the morning, honored men in the community take turns reading special passages from the Koran while the animals are killed.  Finally the speakers are quiet at 9 am and the men and women are busy for several hours butchering the meat, cleaning the entrails, cooking rice and stews.  There is a community feast, and portions of meat are divided to all and special attention to the poor. 

Disclaimer:  The following photos portray some of the butchering process-- parts of dead animals, blood and entrails.  You don't have to look if you don't want to.

The neighborhood women working on the smaller pieces.

The men working on the larger pieces, the 2 cows.

Nothing is wasted.  Here a group of men have the special job of cleaning the entrails.  Cows have 4 stomachs.  There were 2 cows and 6 goals.  That was a lot of entrails.  

Dave stopped by the mosque midway through the morning to say hi to the neighbors.  It really is a festive scene with all of the community working together to prepare the meat.  The price of meat has been going up, up, up at the markets so it is a real treat to have so much meat in one day.  I suppose, to the typical person here, it's a bit like Thanksgiving.  For us, the entire sensory experience is a cultural stressor but it is a good time to interact with our neighbors and build rapport.  We were invited to the feast, but didn't feel quite comfortable enough to join.  To our surprise, later that afternoon a portion of meat (a mix of cow, goat, and entrails) was delivered to our house too!  Interestingly enough, in our neighborhood there are perhaps 8 ex-pat families but none are very active in the neighborhood activities.  To be honest, we are not that active either, but we are trying to increase our involvement.