Life and Work in Bangladesh: Eid Mubarak!

There have been a few changes in Dhaka these past few days, mainly the appearance of hundreds of thousands of cows... everywhere. They import them from all over Aisa, a lot from India and Nepal. This is mainly due to a holiday tomorrow, Eid al-Adha. It's the second Eid Muslims celebrate, the first celebrating the end of Ramadan. This Eid, is also known as the Festival of the Sacrifice because each family makes a sacrifice: a HUGE cow if your family can afford it, or a smaller cow or a goat if you can't. It's how families show off their wealth. Apparently it's "the Bigger the Better!" and believe me, there are some monster cows just tied up on the street (and in the garages) in my neighborhood! Actually, I can here a goat bleating from next door as I write this (I don't think he's very happy. Maybe he knows his fate?) I asked my friends' driver how much cows sold for and he said about 40,000 taka or $500 minimum, but there was one in the news paper that sold for 800,000 taka, over $10,000!! Once they've make the sacrifice after sunrise tomorrow morning, each family will keep 1/3 of the beef, give 1/3 to family and friends, and give 1/3 to the poor. Many families travel to their home villages to be with family, so actually, Dhaka's pretty quiet compared to what it usually is like. That being said, millions of cows and goats will be sacrificed tomorrow in Dhaka alone! Apparently, it's typical to walk upon random cow parts, cow heads, blood in the streets and men wearing white, covered in blood tomorrow... maybe I'll sleep in... Friday, a few friends and I just walked around a local neighborhood, Bashundara, to check out the cow-filled streets and the cow auction. Pretty cool. It reminded me of the fair/stock sale back in Virginia actually. (Is it weird that cows seem to make me a bit homesick?) Well cows and goats of Dhaka, enjoy your final few remaining hours of life!