Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Christmas in Kurdistan

The holiday and festive season has come in Kurdistan!!

It was Eid and we had a break for 8 days, soon we begin the christmas and new year break for another three weeks. After that comes Newroz break, then the other historical Kurdish occasions, following that is Easter and the list goes on...

The 'Jazhn' or 'Eid' season is big here. There are many celebrations and the tradition is deeply rooted. One that I have realized I can not agree with is the killing of animals such as sheep to give to poor and so on... but it appears to be a well known custom. Of course there is the family gathering and the early morning cooking.

The spirit of the festive season is everywhere; the Christmas tree has gone up in our university cafeteria and the area around the citadel has already been decorated with some lights at dark..

Ainkawa- where it is dominated by the Christian community is absolutely beautiful during this time of year as people prepare for their religious celebrations. The atmosphere and is vibrant and lively... (I just wish it would rain more and maybe even some snow...)


To conclude, it makes me so cheerful and happy that people in the region take the time to celebrate this time of year. Whether it is shopping, going for holiday, cooking or just spending time with family and relatives… I wish no matter what people do they make the best of it, and we must never take this opportunity for granted- I doubt people in other parts of Iraq can celebrate like this.

Sazan Mandalawi

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Sazan,
happy new year and may all your wishes come true. the celebrations in kurdistan are great, as for baghdad we celebrate too but every city got a special taste, i'll try to publish photos this weekend if i will not go to mosul and duhok.

Baghdadentist

Zinar Ala said...

Sazan:
Sersala te pîroz be.
Her bijî, blog zor xweşe

Zinar Ala from Spain
http://zinarala.wordpress.com/

Unknown said...

Hi Sazan,
I just want u to know that, you have wonderful and impressive blog. and i want to give A++ to the pics. in conclusion, Happy new month because it is too late for 'happy new year'.

ABDULMAJEED

Medals and Orders said...

Sazan

How are you doing? Check out my new
post on my Blog..

here is my email can you add me to your messenger yahoo???

iraqi_militaria@yahoo.com

Thank you

Lorenzo