Eid (pt.1)

Like we've said before, Eid is the big three day holiday celebration for Muslims at the end of Ramadan. Everyone dresses up in nice new clothes and goes to visit family and friends. They eat lots of food and fellowship together all day long for 3 days straight. 

First Neal went to the 8 am prayer where all of the men wear their white and line the streets to pray.

This was an event in itself... (see Eid Prayer post below this one).

Then the doorbell rang that morning...

We were about to leave our house when we were met with all this food from out gatekeeper downstairs! This was the beginning of the LARGE amounts of food given to us.
This was very sacrificial considering that they have 4 kids and little to no income.

We were invited to join many families for Eid, so we put on our nice clothes and set out. Unfortunately, it rained the whole morning of the first day of Eid, so as we traveled by foot to a home, and then by rickshaw to others, we got very wet. I had my flimsy umbrella up, which Neal had to hold the outside of so that the wind didn't turn it inside out, but the rains still came in at an angle and soaked our pants. At least it cooled us down:)

This is a local shop vender's home. They had lots of good food... including mutton biryani! 

Next we went to our Dhobi's (our clothes washer) house and were met with a host of kids! 

(They have a very large family.)

After having his cheeks pulled over and over, Elijah decided to return the favor.

He lived far away, so we got soaked! Even though their house is small, they were so hospitable, inviting us to sit on their bed to eat.

Elijah was mesmerized by the fan!

This is the grandfather of his family (the one with the broken leg... see Broke post). He already is standing and beginning to get around! Elijah was quite tired by this point.

This is an example of the obstacles that formal wear can give in a muddy, rain soaked environment.

Kristen was trying to avoid the puddles in heels, and wearing white! We also had the baby and a bag to carry! The good news is that the families were always willing to carry Elijah to help.

This is our old neighbor. His family of 6 live in a 1 bedroom flat. We woke the kids up when we arrived (they stay up almost all night preparing food and getting clothing adjusted for the big day).

 His grandmother and brother were at his house visiting.

(Obviously Elijah had enough by the time we got here!)

The mother of the family gave us some elastic for Elijah's pants. It was a great blessing because up until that time they were held up by safety pins.

This is the grandmother along with all the kids that live in this small, windowless home.

Finally we returned home to see our gatekeeper had extra family over to sit outside (because there was no room in their small house). 

It was a great day and a lot of fun. 

It kind of reminded me of a progressive dinner at Christmas. 

Everyone was so nice and we were ready to rest after all that visiting!