Here is some backstory for Eid al-Adha, from International Business Times:
The holiday commemorates the story of the Prophet Ibrahim (aka Abraham among Christians and Jews), who was willing to sacrifice his son Ismail (aka Ishmael) at God’s command. But when Ibrahim was on the verge of sacrificing Ismail, God spared the boy, replacing him with either a lamb or a ram.
Anywhere from weeks to the day before the holiday, Muslim families buy an animal - usually a lamb or a ram, but these can also be substituted for a cow - to sacrifice like in the story. The sacrifice and many prayers occur on the morning of the first day of the Eid. Each respective family then prepares one-third of the meat to be cooked and eaten by themselves. Another third is shared with friends and neighbors, and the last third is donated to the needy.
On Wednesday 9/23, we went to Ustaaza Shrouk's apartment in the morning to cook a traditional Egyptian pasta dish (macaroni with Béchamel sauce) together and watched Titanic with Arabic subtitles as we waited for it to cook and cool. Then we headed over to our director's house to meet the "Eid Flagsheep" as he dubbed it (a play on words of "Eid Flagship Sheep") and watch the sacrifice. Since most of us would be taking part in the actual Eid itself with our Moroccan families and friends and thus wouldn't be around for the Thursday meal of lamb meat, we did a potluck lunch instead. Later I met with my speaking partner, Loubna, at Sahat al-Hadim so we could walk through the market and see items unique to Eid (such as large knives, firestarters and charcoal, skewers ...) that were being sold.
Thursday 9/24 I went to Loubna's house for day 1 of Eid. We were joined by her mom, brother, sister-in-law, nephew, and grandparents. I actually had to be picked up by her and her sister-in-law because although there were taxis out and about most of them were full already and the single empty one I found did not want to drive to Toulal. But it worked out, and it was also interesting to see 95% of businesses closed for the holiday (something that is abnormal on any day in America). When I arrived I ate a quick breakfast as they prepped the sheep that they were keeping in the garage. Then, I went down to sit with her grandmother as we watched her brother Mohammed and her grandfather slaughter the sheep before stripping off its skin to expose the meat and taking out its innards. As much as I hate gore in movies, watching two sheep slaughters in two days actually didn't faze me much - and Moroccans certainly seem desensitized to it. They genuinely were surprised when I said we have no holidays like this in America!
Apparently the cutting of the lamb meat itself doesn't happen until day two in order to let the meat become a little firmer and easier to cut if I understood correctly. So day one consisted of eating sheep innards! I tried sheep brain, heart, lung (my least favorite part because it was too tough to eat), and intestines. My favorite was boulfaf, an Eid delicacy where parts of sheep liver are wrapped in the lining that holds together the organs and cooked on skewers. After snacking on all this, we then had a late lunch that mainly consisted of stewed sheep stomach (also not a big fan - too chewy with a weird aftertaste). I had a really great conversation with Loubna and Mohammed about how consumerism in America affects family holiday celebrations as well as concerning Jesus' role in Islam compared to Christianity. For anyone who's curious, Jesus is an important prophet in Islam and was still conceived without an earthly father but is not considered the son of God - thus in Islam he doesn't perform any of the miracles that distinguish him as the son of God. He also does not die on the cross but ascends body and soul into heaven (which of course happens for us after he is crucified).
The rest of the day consisted of us watching TV while the rest of the family took naps and sharing a short meal with coffee and tea later. I was asked to spend the night but I had been planning on sharing some of Eid with my old host family too so I told them I would come back tomorrow evening to spend the night and eat some of the lamb meat.
Friday 9/25 I went over to Fedwa's around noon. I thought that the family would be actively preparing for day 2 of Eid but instead they were relaxing after a busy day 1. We ate breakfast together, and after a visit from Safa (Fedwa's niece who lives close by) we ate a lunch of sheep stomach and fresh french fries. The girls and I then went to visit a neighbor who I got to know well last summer. They had moved across the street into a bigger apartment since last fall the mom birthed twins, bringing the family's total to five kids! It was great to see them again, especially because they actually talked to me and asked me engaging questions as we ate more sheep stomach as well as sheep face (not my favorite).
I headed back over to Loubna's around 6 PM via grand taxi. She met me upon arrival and we walked around Toulal for a little bit before returning to her home, where we hung out, watched TV, and finally ate a dinner of lamb kebab and lamb thigh (both of which were delicious) before going to bed around 1 AM.
Now that the sheep was all cut up, I expected day 3 of Eid to be the most relaxed day. For me it was anything but - I woke up horribly sick on Saturday 9/26 from what I believe was the meat. I think it's just the fact that I'm not used to the way meat is stored in Morocco - it's usually without refrigeration, especially in this case since the sheep carcass was so big. Loubna's family, however, thought differently. Since I had gone to bed wearing a T-shirt with no other layers (even though it is fall now, there have been no significant temperature changes), they think that my stomach got cold overnight, and the sudden transition from hot to cold is what made me sick. This belief that sudden changes in body temperature results in sickness is deeply rooted in Moroccan culture, and I think they latched on to this rather than the food reason since I was the only one sick and not wearing multiple layers. I spent most of the day drinking boiled thyme and huddled under a pile of blankets to "warm up" again, as well as being lectured about the changing temperatures and the need to wear thermals under my clothes now. I just tried to take everything in stride and was really appreciative of the time they spent caring for me - they told me not to be embarrassed because they consider me part of the family now. I'm so lucky to have found such a good friend in Loubna - she really made sure I got the full Eid experience!
Updates on our trip to the south coming soon!