UGANDA DIARIES
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I have celebrated Eid in 6 countries till now. Today was the 7th one-Uganda. Each place has been a different experience, but this one was something really special.
We woke up early morning and offered our prayers together. Post prayers we all sat outside in the porch and leisurely sipped on cups of tea and munched on the fried dates and plantain. I don’t know if I am the only one but it feels almost wrong to eat after sunrise after a month of no breakfast.
My father’s house has a beautiful, lush garden surrounding it. There are banana plantains, neem, jackfruit and mango trees. The wall is covered in creepers, making this a small piece of heaven tucked away from the dusty streets outside.
The weather here is a pleasant 21 degree Celsius, a welcome change from the sweltering heat in Riyadh. We remained out in the garden for sometime, listening to the various birds chirping in and around the garden.
Then began the morning dash for the bathrooms. Everyone had to be showered and out by 8am (in India it’s much earlier). The Eid Gah, where the Eid prayers are held, is vey near. We drove in to see a sea of colors seated under white tents. Women in bright green, yellow, and red dresses. Men rocked fabulous purple and teal thoubs. The most adorable thing in sight though were the little babies decked in their finest. Boys in little thoubs and girls in bedazzled hijabs. One great thing about Eid is that it is so so positive. Everything about the day makes you feel good. Especially the fact that you wear your finest clothes. It really makes you feel good about yourself. You can see it in the faces of the little girls and boys who are so excited to flaunt their new clothes.
The Eid sermon was in English, which we were really grateful about. It was about the importance of being morally upright in our day to day lives.
Post sermon we headed to a nearby cafe and had a grand breakfast of eggs, steak, croissant, pancakes, waffles, and fresh fruit juice. What’s Eid without food, eh?
At home we relaxed, enjoying the amazing post food buzz. My mom and aunts ( who are over for a visit as well) sat outside the kitchen and barbecued chicken and fish. Lunch was traditional Kerala biriyani (which I am not really fond of, Hyderabadi biriyani ftw!)
To give it a really Eid feel, we had some sweet lime tea to wash it all down.
The food coma has worn off somewhat now. We are now on the way to Victoria lake, which is the second largest fresh water lake in the world.
More updates tomorrow!
UgandanDiaries #UgandaDay1
Nazreen Fazal
Writer, Wife, Mother, Indian, Muslim. So many labels, one me. I write, I rant, I ramble in order to make sense of everything happening around. Join me on this journey as I share snippets of my life, going about work, my parenting wins and fails, and the murky waters that's long distance marriage.
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