The big holiday

If you look at your calendar, you might see that this coming Wednesday, November 17, is labeled as "Eid al Adha." Here in Morocco, this most important Muslim holy day is called "Eid Kbira." "Kbira" means "big," so basically Moroccans call this "the big holiday."

Come Wednesday, this sheep will probably become a former sheep.

The purpose of this blog post isn't to give a religion or history lesson, so those who want details about this holy day can look here or here. I will note that the day is marked by each family slaughtering a sheep, goat, or even cow. An important part of the celebration is participating in and watching the slaughter.

Many of the Americans I know who live here seem to be a bit disturbed by this holy day. I think this is because, while most Americans greatly enjoy eating meat, "animals" and "meat" are generally two separate things in their minds. (I think it helps a little bit that in English – and, I'm sure, in other languages – the words for many animals are different from the words that are used to refer to the meat that comes from those animals. When you're eating a hamburger, you are probably thinking about eating "beef," not "cow.") Most Americans get their meat from the grocery store, where it doesn't look much like the animal that it came from. In contrast, many Moroccans buy their meat while it's still alive! They watch the chicken transition from a living, feathered thing to food on their plate. They participate in that transition. So the idea of watching their kids play with a sheep for a few days, then slaughtering and eating the sheep, is completely natural and in no way disturbing.

At least these sheep look happy right now...

As a vegetarian, I actually admire this. One reason I don't eat meat is because I know that I could not kill an animal. And I don't want to watch someone else do it.

I have been told that the streets literally run with blood on the Eid, and I will not go out on that day. If a Moroccan were to invite me to his or her home for the Eid, I would turn down the invitation. This means I miss out on a significant cultural experience. But I guess I'm completely okay with that.