We've been painting the inside of the house this week. The kids have a two week break from school so I decided to keep them busy. They're doing a wonderful job, nearly finished now. So far it looks great.
Yesterday they took a day off. They cleaned up all the paint mess and invited some friends over to celebrate Miloud - a not very Islamic holiday that commemorates Prophet Mohamed's birthday. Libyans have lots of traditions for this day, none of which our family bother with. The big focus is FIREWORKS, which can be found being sold everywhere on roadside stands in the weeks leading up to Miloud. Along with fireworks being sold are Christmas trees (whatever for?), candles and gaudy crepe paper flower arrangements that have a five candle candelabra on top, torches made from rolled up newspaper dipped in wax, traditional Libyan drums and tambourines and cheap plastic toys made in China.
In my opinion it's all just a huge waste of money and has nothing at all to do with Islam because you can be certain that Prophet Mohamed never ever celebrated his birthday. One of my daughter's Facebook friends was bragging that she had spent 500 dinars on fireworks! Aside from the waste of money are the emergency room cases and even car accidents that result from the festivities which have been reported here: Firework Fun Turns to Tragedy in Tripoli
Food is also a feature of this holiday. Depending on the family and region different traditional dishes are served, most notably is aseeda which is a flour dumpling served with melted butter and honey, or olive oil and date syrup certainly not for anyone who's looking to cut back on their carbs - but it is oh, so delicious!
For me, the best thing is that I have a day off work and I'm going to take advantage of it to catch up on things around the house and visit my mother in law.
To all those who celebrate, enjoy your holiday - Happy Miloud! - Please stay safe!
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