Insha'Allah (God willing), we'll have a better understanding by the end of the week. Or at least a solid understanding of how the festivities go down.
As far as we've heard and noticed, thus far, town kind of goes crazy real quick then shuts down. We went out to the marche today and found it more packed than we've ever seen it (excluding Ramadan nights, of course). Everyone was buying those final things they need for the coming holiday, and it was a little overwhelming. But this time! As compared to Ramadan, we knew what was coming and also knew that we had to get all of our shopping done, too.
Here's Alexis trying to maneuver around a Hanut.
Here is our bounty for the week:
We spent 89.5 dirham. Ack! So expensive! We're volunteers - not made of money! Yeah, it was approximately $9.23.
(1 kilo of unpopped corn, 2 kilos of macaroni, small box of cornstarch, 8 small (freshly cooked) baguettes, 1 dirham worth of spicy peppers, 1/2 kilo of green peppers, 1 kilo of tomatoes, 1 kilo of red onions, 1 kilo of oranges, small bottle of vinegar, 1 kilo of carrots, 4 packets of vanilla flavoring, and 1 massive head of cauliflower).
From what we've been told, everything will pretty much close Thursday-Sunday while people are spending time with their families. Here in Taounate, we have a lot of people who just live here but their families live off in the small communities near-by, so maybe everyone will be gone? Or not? Stay tuned.
Anyway, the attitude in town is really peppy and upbeat. It's really a lot like the holiday season in the US and Europe, but it's still summer out and there are sheep everywhere.
The same people who were really excited that we fasted during Ramadan are also really curious about our Eid activities. Here's an example of an average conversation with any of our neighbors or random people who decide to talk to us while we're out and about.
Note: Yes, translated. Also yes, this is how limited our language is.
A&T: Salaam u-alaikum.
Other person: Wa-alaikum salaam. How are you?
A&T: Good. I'm good. How are you?
O: Good. I'm fine. Everything is great. How is your family in America?
T: They're good. Everything is good.
O: The feast is coming this week. Will you be in Taounate?
A: Yes, the feast! Yes, we will be in Taounate at our house.
O: Good! That is great. Did you buy a sheep?
T: No, a sheep is expensive and we are only two people.
O: That's okay! You can buy a small one!
A: The poor things!
O: *laughs for a while* okay, see you! Have a good feast!
We've gotten a bit formulaic about it, but everyone seems happy with our response.
Here's one of the sheep. Every family has at least one. They'll all be sacrificed on Thursday. Read the Wikipedia. It'll explain better.
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