Kurban Bayram

So, since the holiday has finished, I can tell more about what it is like to celebrate it.

The most important part of the holiday is the sacrifice of an animal. As I said before, the holiday marks the day that Abraham almost sacrificed his own son to God. At the last moment, God told Abraham to keep his son and to sacrifice an animal instead. Today, Muslims all over the world remember Abraham's trust in God as well as God's compassion. They sacrifice cows, bulls, and sheep (but usually only one per family). The meat is shared among neighbors, family, and the poor. In this way, the holiday is also about community support.

The holiday is four days long. The first are for sacrificing the animals and the last is for visiting. But, since only one day is needed for sacrificing, there are actually three visiting days, since each family can choose a different day for sacrificing, the visiting days change.

Here is a picture of a family preparing the meat after the sacrifice.

While the main religious aspect is about the sacrifice, the bayram also (seems) to be very important for bringing families together. Just like Christmas, families come together from all over the country to visit each other and spend time together. But, since many people still live close to one another and families are often quite big, visiting takes a long time. Also, in Turkey, people don't come to one house and visit there together. They go to their parents' house and from there go out to other relatives' and say hello.

There is a special process for visiting. I thınk this may have begun to dissolve in cities, but in the village it is still important. The youngest relatives visit the oldest ones first and then the oldest ones can visit the younger ones. For example, my boyfriend's father is the oldest brother in his family, so all his siblings came to his house. After everyone came there, then he went to visit them at their own houses. Each family buys a LOT of candy and hands it out as people visit. In addition, small children walk around the neighborhoods and gather candy - kind of like Halloween, except without costumes.

It was really interesting to watch the sacrificing of the sheep, although I didn't actually watch the cutting of its throat. I stood behind the animal and only saw its blood going out. The sheep was very quiet. On the news, there were some cows that were running around and escaping but the one I saw was very calm. In addition, it was a new experience to eat the meat of an animal I had seen alive just a few hours before...I felt a little strange eating mutton later that day, but at the same time I think it gives you a greater appreciation for what you are eating.

All in all, it was really interesting to be there and I am glad I was able to see how other people celebrate their holidays.