Often the early morning brain can be a little fuzzy and so I didn’t immediately notice the makeshift shed and line of cows on the corner of my street as I traveled to work last Monday. Shortly after when a goat drove by, smiling at me from the back of a moped, I realised something a little unusual was going on.
Idul Adha is a national holiday in Indonesia (as in many other Islamic countries, known as Eid al-Adha) to recognise the time of the Hajj in Mecca and the trials of the Prophet Ibrahim. As well as a day off work, the festivities involve the sacrifice of an animal in remembrance of the sacrifice of Ibrahim with the meat donated to feed the local poor.
In the week building up to the festival more and more animals started appearing in these hastily made shelters as Jakarta gradually turned from a smoggy traffic filled city into some kind of concrete mega farm. All the time people where popping into the stalls to buy a cow or a goat to take home ready for the Friday sacrifice; one taxi driver proudly informed me that his mother-in-law had five cows in her house (not sure if a pun was intended).
Sadly I headed to Malaysia on Thursday evening to take advantage of the long weekend and so I can’t quite tell you what happened next. Suffice to say, I’ve not seen a cow or goat since my return.
Idul Adha is a national holiday in Indonesia (as in many other Islamic countries, known as Eid al-Adha) to recognise the time of the Hajj in Mecca and the trials of the Prophet Ibrahim. As well as a day off work, the festivities involve the sacrifice of an animal in remembrance of the sacrifice of Ibrahim with the meat donated to feed the local poor.
In the week building up to the festival more and more animals started appearing in these hastily made shelters as Jakarta gradually turned from a smoggy traffic filled city into some kind of concrete mega farm. All the time people where popping into the stalls to buy a cow or a goat to take home ready for the Friday sacrifice; one taxi driver proudly informed me that his mother-in-law had five cows in her house (not sure if a pun was intended).
Sadly I headed to Malaysia on Thursday evening to take advantage of the long weekend and so I can’t quite tell you what happened next. Suffice to say, I’ve not seen a cow or goat since my return.