Today we celebrated one of the most important religious and traditional events — Eid al-Adha
In my previous post, I mentioned that I had arrived in my grandparents’ village and shared a bit about my visa journey. But today, I had a different plan: to spend time with my relatives throughout the night and visit the mosque in the morning. Since this Friday, Muslims around the world were celebrating Eid al-Adha — a deeply meaningful holiday that comes after the sacred period of Ramadan — I didn’t want to stay on the sidelines and decided to fully take part as well.
However, my situation wasn’t that simple. For me, it was still a regular workday, while people in my home region were enjoying a day off. That’s because I work in Saint Petersburg, and the local holidays back home don’t really apply there.
Still, my time in the village turned out to be completely packed. I arrived around 10 PM, which already felt quite late, especially after my trip to Kazan. I had hoped everything would go much faster, but the opposite happened — I ended up running behind schedule. That said, it was absolutely worth it: I received my passport and got my Japan visa. By the time I was catching up with my relatives, it was already midnight. That’s when I realized the night ahead might be long — I hadn’t even taken a bath yet or gone through my usual routine.
By the time I finished my routine and took a bath, it was already close to 3 AM. At that point, going to bed didn’t really make sense — we were planning to head to the mosque around 5 anyway. So I just stayed up, scrolling on my phone. Everyone else in the house was already asleep, and I was the only one still awake, quietly walking through the dark rooms.
At 5 AM, my uncle, my nephew, and I got ready and left for the mosque. The morning was surprisingly cold. The whole village was covered in thick fog that made everything look almost completely white. In my uncle’s yard, there was still old, flattened grass from last year, and the fresh soil was frozen solid — it honestly felt more like winter than late spring.
We spent about two hours at the mosque. The mullah gave a sermon, shared some important updates about the village, and collected alms before the prayer. If you’re curious, the total amount collected was around 19,610 rubles — roughly $233. To be honest, I have to admit something: I completely forgot to bring my own donation. If I had contributed as well, the total would have easily gone over 20,000 rubles.
Today we celebrated our religion and traditional event, Eid al-Adha.
In my previous post I mentioned that I arrived in my grandparents village and described some moments from my visa journey. But today I had some plans to spend time in the village around my relatives until morning and visit the mosque. Because this Friday all Muslims celebrated the religious holiday Eid al-Adha after the sacred month of Ramadan. Of course, I couldn't stay on the side and also decided to participate.
But my situation wasn't simple, because this day was just a regular workday for me, while other residents in my region had the day off. It happened because I'm working in St. Petersburg, and those local rules from my region don't apply there. However, my time in the village was completely busy. When I arrived, the time was 10 pm, and it was pretty late because I had a trip to Kazan. I hoped I'd manage it much faster, but the opposite happened, and I was late. Honestly, it wasn't in vain, I received my passport and got my Japan visa. By the time, while I spent my time with my relatives, the time was already midnight. In that time I realized that my night might be long, because I still had not taken a bath and not completed my routine.
When I finished all my routine and took a bath, the time already was closer to 3 am, so I didn't see any reasons why I needed to go to bed. Because we planned to go to the mosque around 5 am. So I just spent some time on my phone. That time my relatives were already asleep, and I was the only one who didn't sleep and walked around the house's dark rooms.
At 5 am my uncle, nephew, and I prepared to go to the mosque. But that early morning the temperature was very cold, and the village was covered in fog that made everything white. Also, my uncle's front yard already had melted, old grass since last year, and fresh soil was completely frozen, which reminded me about winter. And I don't think we went to the mosque and spent approximately two hours there.
There the Mullah told a sermon, notified some important news about the village, collected alms, and everyone prayed. If you're curious and want to know how much alms was collected, it was around 19,610 rubles; it's like $233.14. Here I need to remark on one important thing: that I forgot to bring the alm. If I also brought and left the alm, then the total sum was more than 20,000 rubles.