El Eid farha… family tradition!!

So I’ve been meaning to blog about that for some time, I just keep getting busy with my eventful life (bala kheiba).

I know all families have their own traditions when it comes to celebrating el eid as well as other occasions, but I kinda think my dad’s family has the weirdest of traditions. I have two sisters and two cousins whom I know will read this and will totally agree with me.

So here is how we spend el eid every year since my late grandpa died when I was about 8 years old. We’d have leave for Alexandria two days before el eid, have iftar at my aunt’s where my dad would leave my sisters and I with our cousins, take my aunt and uncle to visit their aunt and their cousins (which is ok). Afterwards, they go visit my other aunt (their sister) who lives in Miami and who is expected to visit us on the day of the eid, then come and pick us up after midnight.

On the day of eid, my dad would wake us up pretty early where we have to deal with mama’s hysteria and his intolerable bossy attitude and help with preparation of food and such, then we get dressed and sit still waiting for people to start coming while he keeps calling his brother and sisters (at home, back when there were no cell phones) urging them to hurry up and sometimes even yell at them in the spirit of eid.

Once all is here: a total of 3 aunts, an uncle and their sons and daughters (I excluded an aunt and 2 uncle who tend to be unavailable most of the time), we have lunch, which is usually renga (don’t ask), and after the tea, beverages and fruits, people start getting restless.

Here is the tradition, my uncle and his family would have to leave so that they can be home, when everyone who is already here starts visiting!! Yes, everyone means, us, and my other three aunts and their families!!! I KNOW, we were just together, heck we still are, but NO, each brother/sister has to receive the whole family at his/her place. So after uncle is visited, you’d find my other aunt (whom we had not visited two days before eid) rushing to the door so that she can make her home ready for visitors!!

And so we spend the first day of eid racing the streets of Alexandria in the midst of the eid traffic. Crazy I know; this is why my cousins and my sisters attempted more than once to talk some sense into our parents. Apparently, they thought it was disrespectful and irresponsible of us to think that it would make more sense for the whole family to gather at one place. They kept asking which brother and which sister would host this gathering. We suggested it would be my father since our place is big enough, but then they argued that our place is in Agamy, which is around 15 kilos away from Alex. YA SALAM, maho keda keda we spend the whole day going back and forth, let alone that at each home we have the same tea, ka7k and other eid treats!!!

We even suggested that each year someone would host the eid, this way all of them would have the honor, they said it was crazy because they would have to fight each year on who will be the host. We finally suggested that we would divide those visits on the three days of eid, and there came the ultimately annoying response: “la, khaleeha 3al2a wa7da”…. Tab lamma heya 3al2a, betakhdooha leeeeeeeeh!!!

It is just…. I am not sure there is even a word to describe it, so I won’t. This year, my sisters and I took a leave of absence due to my situation, so we only did our roles as hosts. But my guess is tomorrow, we will visit aunt H before we leave back to my beloved Cairo.

It no longer matters much to me where I spend my eid. I used to whine about not being to spend the first day with my late nana, or hang our with D or just stay home with the husband… nana died five years ago, D is in the states for the next couple of years and well, I don’t wanna see the husband.

I guess my eid just got better since I have nothing else that I’d rather do. I am thankful though. Happy Eid to all of you people out there who do not have such crazy traditions.

October 13, 2007