Hajj and Eid al Adha

The week of October 30 our school had Hajj activities for the students. Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia and is the fifth pillar of Islam. Every Muslim who can afford it must do the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. During the week of Hajj hundreds of thousands of Muslims perform rituals in Mecca. Some of the  rituals are: dressing in traditional all white clothing, walking around the Kabaa seven times and going to Mount Arafat to throw stones as a symbol of "the stoning of satan." Following Hajj every Muslim celebrates Eid al Adha "Festival of Sacrifice" by sacrificing a sheep, lamb, goat, etc. in honor of Allah and gathering with family... Kinda like Thanksgiving :D.

Like most of the activities that happen in our school we, the LT's, didn't find out about them until last minute and I also had no clue of what was happening. I usually found out that we were going to do something minutes before. No complains I was really excited to be a part of this and learn more about the culture.

Unfortunately I didn't take a camera when our students dressed up and walked around a made-up Kabaa. But here is a link to some really awesome professional pictures of Hajj and Eid al Adha. I did take a camera on the day that a sheep was brought to school for the children to see. The poor animal was scared out of it's mind, was practically dragged into the assembly area by the Arabic teachers, and made a complete mess by pooping all over the floor. The Arabic teachers put on some really loud music and encouraged the kids to make sheep sounds. To end the day every student, LT, and Arabic teacher received a 5 dirham bill by the principal. Not a bad way to begin our first school break! 

Didn't want to go inside the assembly room.

Yup! That's poop on the floor.

Principal handing out dirhams to the kids.

My 5 dirhams