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Ole Abroad (Dan): Eid Mubarak!

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Daniel Sacerio Student Contributor, St. Olaf College
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Lucy Casale Student Contributor, St. Olaf College
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at St Olaf chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

“Eid Mubarak” means Blessed Eid. This week was filled with turning in assignments right before the beginning of the Eid break. This whole week, starting on Thursday night, I have off from school until next Sunday! It has been really nice to get a break from school.

On Saturday, a couple of my friends and I got together and cooked a ton of food leading up to the beginning of Eid, which began on sundown on Saturday. My Libyan friend Heba cooked a lamb and couscous, which was incredibly delicious. It had a red sauce, thick and juicy pieces of lamb, and was served with incredibly fluffy couscous.

[The picture is on the shish kebabs getting ready to be prepared on our grill.]
After we ate and recovered from our food coma, we went to see a movie in downtown Cairo. We saw “Adventures of Tintin,” which was one of my favorite cartoons, when I lived in Spain. It took place in England, which was very different from the cartoon, which is originally Belgian. 
 

Then on Sunday, the actual Eid celebration occurred. Most of the day was full of purchasing and preparing the ingredients for the huge dinner we were going to have. More lamb was to be cooked but this time we were barbecuing the lamb. We made a homemade barbecue from a pot, and used the grill from the oven to make delicious barbecued lamb. Then there was salad, Basmati rice, and Arab sweets. The sweets were kenafah bites and baklava bites from a local bakery. All of the food was delicious! But once we thought the food was finished… our Nigerian friend Bawa, came with more food! It was Ox cooked in rice in a red sauce. It is a traditional Eid dish that is eaten in Nigeria. Then we started to make shish kebabs. I was in-charge of putting the meat and the vegetables on the skewers. 

 
It was great to see the differences in celebrating Eid across the Muslim World. It really felt like we were all a family, and it was great to celebrate Eid in the Middle East surrounded by great friends and great food.
 
Ma’asalama,
Dan 

*Daniel Sacerio ’13 is studying at the American University of Cairo in Cairo, Egypt  for the whole year. He majors in  Sociology/Anthropology and Middle East Studies.
 
Founder and executive editor of the St. Olaf chapter of Her Campus, Lucy Casale is a senior English major with women's studies and media studies concentrations at St. Olaf College. A current editorial intern at MSP Communications in Minneapolis, MN, Lucy has interned at WCCO-TV/CBS Minnesota, Marie Claire magazine, and two newspapers. Visit her digital portfolio: lucysdigitalportfolio.weebly.com