Not a good day to be a sheep in Morocco!!!

This Thursday and Friday is Eid al-Adha. They call it Eid (pronounced like eeed)for short. We, as employers, are expected to give our housekeeper and gardener an extra week's salary to help offset the cost of their sheep. They are such great people and do their jobs so well I have absolutely no problem with this. The following is an explanation of the holiday:
Eid al-Adha (10 Dhu'l-Hijjah)
The celebration concluding the Hajj
Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, commemorates the prophet Abraham's willingness to obey Allah by sacrificing his son Ishmael. According to the Qu'ran, just before Abraham sacrificed his son, Allah replaced Ishmael with a ram, thus sparing his life.

One of the two most important Islamic festivals, Eid al-Adha begins on the 10 day of Dhu'l-Hijja, the last month of the Islamic calendar. Lasting for three days, it occurs at the conclusion of the annual Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca. Muslims all over the world celebrate, not simply those undertaking the hajj, which for most Muslims is a once-a-lifetime occurrence.

The festival is celebrated by sacrificing a lamb or other animal and distributing the meat to relatives, friends, and the poor. The sacrifice symbolizes obedience to Allah and its distribution to others is an expression of generosity, one of the five pillars of Islam.

The sheep are slaughtered in the yard or on the street. I think we won't go out on our balcony (we can see over the concrete walls into several yards from it) or out in town for the day!!!
---Rachel