ihath

Yesterday was Eid. The muslim holiday following the month of Ramadan.

It is really hard to get in the mood of Eid when you live in Canada and everybody around you doesn't know what the word means.

On Tuesday, I felt very ashamed when I came home from work that day. The cleaning lady, who is Eritrean and a muslim left me a happy Eid card and a box of chocolates.

I had forgotten to leave her anything, not even a card.

Have I become so westernized that I forgot to wish a happy Eid to the few muslims that I am in contact with? I had completely forgotten about the cleaning lady.

I felt a bit depressed. But then I remembered one of ihathian sayings

"A pockey is better than a poke in the eye."

Instead of feeling down about the lack of Eid celebrations around me, why don't I try to make a little Eid celebration for myself and my family.

Soooo, ..... Yesterday, I arranged chinese takeout from our favorite Szechuan restaurant and I decided to buy my kids some toys and I invited my family over for dinner and a get together.

Tamagotchi for my 10 year old daughter.
A pink unicorn toy with long hair riding a scooter for my 6 year daughter.
A ninja turtle action figure for my 4 year old son.

The toys were a hit. Each one of my kids just loved his toy and was delighted with it. My daughter has wanted a tamagotchi for months now and was besides herself with happiness when I presented it to her.

For those of you who don't have 10 year old in your house, a tamagotchi is a Japanese electronic toy that attempts to simulate a pet. The child is supposed to play with it, feed it, take care of it and buy it treats. Over time the tamagotchi, grows up can gets married and has a kid and you end up with several generations to take care of.

So, we turned on the tamagotchi and right away we saw an egg hatch on the monitor. "It's a boy" my daughter screamed, "O I wanted a girl, that is ok, a boy is good as well, look mom! .... he is so cute". Then came the decision, what do we name the boy? All the tamagotchi names that my daughter thought of were girl names and she wanted to give him a boy name. After much thinking and pondering, she decided to call him Eid.

"Mom! Eid has evolved and now he is a toddler and not a baby any more"
"Mom! Eid is craying and he needs me to take care of him"
"Mom! look! Eid has gotten a plant as a gift and it spawned 300 points in fruit"
"Mom! Eid is hungry I have to feed him"
"Mom! Look! Eid has pooped and I have to clean his area"
"Eid is so cute when he sleeps"

Just a sample of what I have been hearing since our Eid celebration yesterday.

I wanted Eid ..... I think I got a bit too much.

I need another pockey now.... The Japanese chocolate covered stick shaped biscuit ......mmmmm ........

Muslim holiday
Chinese food
Japanese electronics
I love Vancouver

There is a way between voice and presence where information flows. In disciplined silence it opens. With wandering talk it closes. .... Rumi