Eid al-Adha
In the early morning, at 2:30 AM, I went to the mosque across the quiet village streets with my relatives and neighbors. However, this visit to the mosque was quite different from my previous one from this post. Because this time, we didn’t walk randomly; instead, all the people from our street gathered at the very beginning of the village and walked together all the way to the mosque. But we didn’t just walk — from time to time, we randomly stopped for about 2–3 minutes and said “Takbir.” It continued for approximately fifteen minutes until we reached the mosque. When we arrived, other villagers from different streets were already waiting for us so everyone could say the final “Takbir” together before entering the mosque.
The weather wasn’t very good today. It was rainy and a bit cold. The temperature was lower than in previous days, around 20–22 degrees during the day. In the evening, the average temperature was approximately 18 degrees, and the forecast predicted around 16 degrees at night. So today I decided to skip my biking and drive to the village to celebrate Eid al-Adha. I’m sure it’s much more fun than riding my bike in low temperatures and getting cold.
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.
This is my visa — I blurred some parts because they contain sensitive information. I also want to clarify one thing: I initially applied for a seven-day stay, but they granted me fifteen days instead. Of course, I’m very happy about this, as it gives me a great opportunity to visit Japan, especially Tokyo.
To be honest, I’m not even sure where to begin with this post. So many things happened today, and I also want to share parts of my trip to Moscow. Some of these details I intentionally kept to myself, planning to reveal them later — and now feels like the right moment. As you may have already guessed from the title, this post is mainly about my Japan visa, although I might also include a few highlights from my trip. In short, I’ve already purchased all my flight tickets and booked my hotels.