An Algerian Eid in Switzerland

I wrote this post for Multicultural Kid Blogs describing how we intend to celebrate Eid in Switzerland, the Algerian way.

I'd love to hear how you plan to celebrate Eid in your corner of the world!

1st Eid in Switzerland

Tomorrow is Eid El Adha. If we were in Algeria, we'd be having a nice meal, probably a roast chicken prepared by mum, as we don't usually slaughter a lamb in my family. We did it a few times when my sister and I were little. But since we left home some twenty years ago, my parents have never seen the sense in buying and slaughtering a whole lamb for just the two of them.

Over the years, I've managed many times to spend Eid El Fitr with my parents (the one celebrating the end of Ramadan) but never Eid El Adha. It's never had the same importance for our family.

This year it's taken me by surprise. Freshly arrived in a new country, with a ton of things to do and great adjustments to make, I've been caught short and hadn't realised the imminence of Eid. Now we won't even be able to celebrate as a family, since BabelDad planned a day trip in Germany for BK2 and himself to hear Buzz Aldrin talk about the moon and Mars.

Had we been in Manchester, we'd have spent a good part of the day with our Algerian friends, celebrating. Instead, this year, I'll be entertaining two children and resenting the fact there is no one to celebrate with.

This immigrating stuff is still hard, fifteen years down the line... But then I go on the terrace, and look to my right. Life is good.

Identity Questions

On the way back from school, after the school's Eid Party, the girls were excitedly telling me all what they had been up to: henna, Eid cards, musical statues, cake...
The following conversation ensued with five-year old BK2 and eight-year old BK1.

BK2: "James and Issa say I can't be Muslim!"
Me: "Why??"
BK2: "They say I can't be Muslim because my skin is not brown!"
Me: "Oh, what did you reply?"
BK2: "I said I am Muslim, even if my skin is white!"
BK1: "That's true mum, some boys in my class believe that only people with dark skin can be Muslim"
Me: "What do you think?"
BK1: "It is not true, we are muslims and white"
BK2: "I said I am a Muslim Christian, because we celebrate Eid and Christmas, because of you and papa"
BK1: "No, we are Muslim, and we are 1/4 Algerian, 1/4 French, 1/4 German and 1/4 English!"

Conclusion: every child in this story is getting nationality, religion, culture and race mixed up!

Eid Party at School

I have been living in England for nine and a half years. I often get the question: "So what brought you here?" to which I infallibly answer: " Work...".

"Do you like it here?"

"Well, the weather is c**p, I miss my family, but people are nice".

I could also add that people are on the whole very tolerant and open-minded. This is illustrated by this letter the school sent out last week.

Our school is your bog-standard suburban state primary school with about 20% children from an ethnic minority background. 

This morning, all children wore bright party clothes instead of their navy and green uniforms. There was a palpable festive buzz in the playground. Parents were wishing their children a great Eid party. 

It was lovely! How inclusive is that?

I can hardly imagine something similar happening in a state school in other parts of the world...

Your family or mine?

Earth-shattering news: Prince William will spend Christmas with his wife's family!

One of the advantages of being from two different and distinct cultures is the absence of conflict on where to spend the holidays. No dilemma over whether to spend Christmas or Eid with the wife's or husband's family.
Also, when we are either in Algeria or Germany, there is no taking turns for the grandparents to see their grandchildren. We all stay in the same house, and have no rule over how often to visit the in-laws.

An Algerian friend of mine and her Algerian husband live in Canada with their young children. Every two years, they visit Algeria for a respectable six-week period. In order to satisfy everyone, the woman stays four days with her husband and his family, then takes her children and goes to stay with her own family for the remaining three days. And so on every week. She actually goes straight to her husband's family from the airport. I would personally find this hard, as the only thing I have in mind as soon as the plane lands is to see the faces of my beloved parents waiting for us at the airport.

There are some strong traditions in algeria, whereby a married woman "belongs" to her husband's family. It is not uncommon for a man to marry in Algeria, only to move abroad for work soon after the wedding, and the woman stay with his parent, even though her own family live nearby.

If Prince William had married someone from a completely different background, he would have totally avoided the dilemma of whether to spend Christmas with the Queen or with the Middletons. Mind you, I can think of worse dilemmas to have.

Am I Muslim?

This post has been sitting in the drafts folder for over a month. I often find it tricky to discuss religion, ethnicity and cultural norms.
Here it is now, released in the wild.

Yesterday, the girls' school celebrated Eid. All children were to come in their Eid clothes or special clothes. The girls made Eid cards at school, and designed henna patterns.
How open-minded is that? I think it was a really cool idea. It was lovely for the girls to see their special feast recognised and celebrated outside our home.

The school itself is pretty ethnically-diverse, with possibly a fifth of its pupils descending from an ethnic minority. I wonder, do my daughters fall into this statistic? No simple answer to this question...

At the dinner table, the following conversation ensued - (BabelDad was still out at work):
BK2: "Zareen and Aliyah are muslim. I am not muslim."
BK1, emphatically: "Yes you are!"
BK2: "No, I am not Muslim, like Olivia"
BK1: "Yes you are!"
BK2: "No, I am not"
Me: "Why do you think you are not Muslim?"
BK2: "Because Muslims pray (joins her hands up), and go to the mosque"
Me, mulling this over: "Some Muslims do and some don't. I don't. Papy (my dad) prays and goes to the mosque."
BK1: "See, you are Muslim"
BK2: "Ok, I am Muslim"

BK1 and BK2 undoubtedly notice the differences between our family and those of the Muslim kids in their school. Most of their Muslim little friends are of pakistani origin.
I personally do not feel closer to the Pakistani culture than I do to the British one. Weirdly, I have to admit I probably relate more easily to the latter. After all, I've been living in Europe for the last fourteen years, twelve of which I've been sharing with a European bloke.

Wow! This multilingual/multicultural family affair brings up quite a lot of questions and (self-)questionings...