This weekend marked the celebration of Ashura. The bottle rocket bombs have been exploding outside our window, late at night, for a week in anticipation of this holiday. Here in Morocco, Ashura is such a fun-spirited holiday... so we were pretty shocked when we went to research the origins of the festivities and were met with pictures of mutilated kids bleeding on the streets. Oh dear. Apparently, the significance of Ashura, as well as how it is celebrated, varies wildly within different Muslim communities. Some Muslims believe that Ashura marks a day of fasting and remembering the day that the Israelites were freed from the hand of Pharaoh. Others insist that Ashura should be a solemn day for mourning the martyrdom of Muhammed the prophet's grandson Husayn (They even take part in bloody self-flagellation ceremonies in order to remember the brutality of his assassination). Morocco, on the other hand, celebrates Ashura in its own way...completely unique from these other Arab communities.
Here in Morocco, Ashurah is more akin to American Christmas. It is a celebration for children. Traditionally, parents spoil their children with gifts, money, and candy during this time. The most traditional Ashurah gift is a "Taarija" (Moroccan drum), which is gifted to the children early so that they can parade around loudly during the days leading up to Ashurah. Thankfully, Aliyah has slept peacefully through all of the drumming this past week. It is also customary to give money to the poor and visit the cemeteries. On the actual day of Ashurah, children enjoy "Zem Zem" (water games). Our landlord explained that they always have a huge water-balloon fight, but that it is not abnormal to see a few "mean" individuals who opt to throw raw eggs instead.
Friday, on the Eve of Ashurah, we were invited to join our landlord's family for a traditional meal of couscous. One great advantage to living directly above our landlord is that we do not have to adjust Aliyah's sleeping schedule in order to accept their meal invitations (which generally start very late at night). We can put her down at her normal bedtime and simply walk downstairs with our video monitor! Fantastic. :)
The Ashurah-Eve meal was prefaced with an explosion of bottle rockets, firecrackers, and sparklers. American safety standards are certainly not considered here, especially when the kids are permitted to run to the show. Firecrackers were blown up under electrical boxes, bottle rockets were exploding off from flammable styrofoam, and explosions were being set off entirely too close to the people watching. All in good fun...and nobody got hurt. :) The delicous meal concluded with a time of watching a skew of hilarious family Dubsmash videos, which further emphasized the fact that this holiday is a joyous celebration of families.
At GWA, it is traditional for all of the kindergarteners to receive a "Taarija" as a gift. They paint their little drums at school, and then bring them home for Ashura. When the school purchasing coordinator, Nadia, sought off to buy the 100+ drums from the local market for these kids, she decided to buy a special little one for Aliyah:
-David, Nicole, & Aliyah
Here in Morocco, Ashurah is more akin to American Christmas. It is a celebration for children. Traditionally, parents spoil their children with gifts, money, and candy during this time. The most traditional Ashurah gift is a "Taarija" (Moroccan drum), which is gifted to the children early so that they can parade around loudly during the days leading up to Ashurah. Thankfully, Aliyah has slept peacefully through all of the drumming this past week. It is also customary to give money to the poor and visit the cemeteries. On the actual day of Ashurah, children enjoy "Zem Zem" (water games). Our landlord explained that they always have a huge water-balloon fight, but that it is not abnormal to see a few "mean" individuals who opt to throw raw eggs instead.
Friday, on the Eve of Ashurah, we were invited to join our landlord's family for a traditional meal of couscous. One great advantage to living directly above our landlord is that we do not have to adjust Aliyah's sleeping schedule in order to accept their meal invitations (which generally start very late at night). We can put her down at her normal bedtime and simply walk downstairs with our video monitor! Fantastic. :)
The Ashurah-Eve meal was prefaced with an explosion of bottle rockets, firecrackers, and sparklers. American safety standards are certainly not considered here, especially when the kids are permitted to run to the show. Firecrackers were blown up under electrical boxes, bottle rockets were exploding off from flammable styrofoam, and explosions were being set off entirely too close to the people watching. All in good fun...and nobody got hurt. :) The delicous meal concluded with a time of watching a skew of hilarious family Dubsmash videos, which further emphasized the fact that this holiday is a joyous celebration of families.
At GWA, it is traditional for all of the kindergarteners to receive a "Taarija" as a gift. They paint their little drums at school, and then bring them home for Ashura. When the school purchasing coordinator, Nadia, sought off to buy the 100+ drums from the local market for these kids, she decided to buy a special little one for Aliyah:
-David, Nicole, & Aliyah
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