The Festivities

We had quite a busy holiday season this year; Eed el Adha (The Muslim sacrifice festivity), and the Christian end of year holidays fell at about the same time. This is bound to happen sometimes, because the Muslims use a lunar calendar, meaning the holidays move about 20 days every year.

First it was Eed el Adha, which I started with the tradition of visiting the dead. I woke early and went to the cemetery, to visit my fathers grave, and the graves of other deceased members of the family, but after that I had to go to work, yes I went to work on the first day of Eed el Adhah; I had no more vacation days left this year, and I was planning to go to the Dead Sea the next day. Unfortunately that meant I did not have much time to visit the leaving members of my family.

In the evening we had the traditional grill at the family house, but without my mother; she was in Mecca, Saudi Arabia performing the Hajj pilgrim. A great spiritual experience I imagine, but at the same time an arduous and dangerous trip; my mother was one among millions of pilgrims, who were performing the Hajj ritual, and the ritual requires performing certain ceremonies at specific times, this means that these millions of pilgrims are all at the same place, at the same time, doing the same thing, whether it is rounding Al-Ka’aba, staying the night at mount Arafat or throwing stones at monument if Ipleace (the Devil).

On Thursday we woke early and drove the Dead Sea, were we had a three day beach holiday. We were fortunate with the weather: twenty degrees and sunny. We even dared to swim in the cold salty waters of the Dead Sea, it was very cold, but once you dip yourself inside, you get used to it. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on land, -418 meters bellow sea level, this means that the water that drains through Jordan river and other streams, has no were to go. Water loss happens only through evaporation, but the salts and minerals in the water don’t evaporate and they keep accumulating in the sea. The result is that waters are so salty that you can float on them, without even moving a finger, just lay back and enjoy.

Because of all the minerals that get deposited and accumulated at the Dead Sea, a thriving industry of beauty and health products has risen, drying large parts of the northern part of the sea to extract the minerals. One of the famous products of the Dead Sea is the mineral rich mud, which one can apply to the skin, and supposedly has much health benefits.

Saturday afternoon we headed back home, just in time to welcome my mother back from the Hajj. But before that we had a visit from Santa Clause.

I arranged for him to bring presents to Alejandro and both of my nephews: Ahmad and O’mri. O’mri the little one was a bit overwhelmed by three Santas running around the house, and sought refuge in the hands of his mother. Ahmad and Alejandro reacted better to the presence of Santa. We all took some photos with the Santas, next to our Christmas tree, which we had prepared before our Dead Sea vacation. Mauge insisted we use a natural pine tree rather than an artificial one. We set it up, and decorated it with the help of our friends, Suhil and Mervat.

My mother’s bus arrived at midnight. She came back with bags loaded of gifts for everybody, and one gallon of water from the scared spring of Zamzam. The next few days were busy days for her, as many people came to congratulate her.

A couple of days later it was Christmas, and on Christmas day we traveled to the city of Nazareth to visit the Church of Annunciation. It would have been more appropriate to visit the Nativity Church in Bethlehem at this time of year, but we had such a hectic holiday season that we decided to leave it for next year.

A week after it was the New Year celebration, this time we celebrated at our home; we had a grill, and invited my sister’s family and my ant’s family.

That was the end of 2007, and now 2008 begins, but I haven’t made any new resolutions for the New Year; I have plenty to get done this year without making any new resolutions: Obtain residency status for my girlfriend and her son, and advancing my career at Intel, will sure keep more than occupied in the coming months.

I wish you all a fruitful and happy 2008.