WARNING: This entry is R rated for mature content. Those with a queasy stomach
might want to skip it.


My strongest memory of Tuesday is of gunpowder and blood.





Gunpowder from firecrackers and blood from sheep, that is...

Tuesday was the beginning of Eid el Adha celebrating the ram that was
sacrificed instead of Abraham's son . The holiday actually goes all week,
but Tuesday was the day of slaughter and now Wednesday is the day of
feasting.

So, Tuesday there was blood flowing in the streets. All day, the butchers
went about their appointed rounds. House-to-house, slaughtering the animals.
At some locations, this was done on the roof. At others, inside a garage area,
but with many it was right out on the sidewalk. It becomes quite a spectacle
and small crowds gather.

As timing would have it, I never quite saw the butchers at the beginning of the
process. I just saw the cuts of meat being made and the blood flowing down the
street.

The smell mixed with gunpowder as children and adults began setting off firecrackers.
Not the ladyfinger type, mind you. Pretty big stuff, and loud!

So many things are strange or unusual here, yet it feels somewhat normal at
the same time. It's difficult to explain. Perhaps I can think more and write
about this later.