wtorek, 15 października 2013

Qurban Bayrami

Happy Qurban Bayrami everone!

Today was a religious holiday called Qurban Bayrami which means a 'festival of sacrifice'. Although we didn't have any classes most of the places were open just like on a regular day.
Qurban Bayrami is a Muslim holiday about sharing with the others. It's to honor Ibrahim (Abraham) for sacrificing his young first-born son Ismail (Ishmael) as an act of submission to Allah's command. Istead of sacrificing his son, Ibrahim was allowed to sacrifice a lamb instead. This holiday is then about giving what you ave best to your relatives and close friends. Because of the lamb sacrificed, during this holiday you can see lambs and sheep on the streets. Waiting for their final exectution. People kill them right next to the road, cutting off their heads and then taking out all the prohibited parts to eat. That is what we get to see today:


Regarding we had no class today we dicided to go on a little trip to the best fish house in the city. We had to take a cab over there and even it is still called Baku I would say I was some place else. Even living in Netfcilar for a month now was much better than what we saw today. Dust and dirt on the streets, houses that were barely standing, narrow roads that apparently fit 3 cars if you yell and beep long enough. TIA - what else can I say?


After the feast of freshly caught fish we got to see the Bibi Heybat Mosque. In the past the Muslims were not allowed to paint for example that's why they don't have such artistic heritage we do in Europe. What they did instead was building. Have I seen many things in my life but seeing the mosque was one of the most amazing experiences. It's the most beautiful thing I've seen here so far. It's so magestic, peaceful and astonishing. Of course we went inside. First thing we had to do though was to cover up which means the girls had to wear a hust over their heads. If you ever decide to go into a mosque you don't have to worry to carry the hust around becaue there's always a table with the ones you can borrow only to get in. Next thing was taking our shoes off. There were special shelves for the shoes and only after leaving them we could walk the beautiful carpet to the actual inside. It was really small and we could not take pictures. There was a fenced place for four tombs - one of them dedicated to Ukeyma Khanum, a a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. The mosque itself was built in 13th century but was completely destroyed by the Bolshevick in 1936. It's been reconstructed in 1990s and remains a regional center for the Absheron Muslims.


After seeing the mosque we walked the Bulvar to sit in a nice restaurant for a cup of coffee only later that evening to walk into the coolest (and my first) pub in the city! As we were there for the first time we got samples of the beers they brawe themselves. One thing you need to know about the beer here is that light beer tastes like water. That's the reason we all ordered the dar one which was not bitter at all and in it's taste it was similiar to European light/medium beer. Also the medium beer they served us tasted and smelled like a' la grodzkie (KMWTN)...

It was a long day full of excitement and fun! Hopefully I will see more of them in the next 4 remaining months... ;)

And here's a little something about Qurban Bayrami in Poland: Qurban Bayrami banned in Poland

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