Bayram in Sarajevo…

Hmmm, these are my initial thoughts:

1. Scared to drive to the airport and pick up my friend who is coming from Turkey due to drunk drivers, crazy people celebrating etc…
2. Worried about not worrying on time what café bar ticket I would book for a party since everything is almost booked
3. Visiting family
4. Getting the house in order
5. Ironing my nicest dress for the party tomorrow night

Explanation :)

1. I am very sad to say that I have heard a number of fasting people during this Ramadan commenting about the upcoming Bayram and how they will celebrate by “getting themselves drunk like crazy”. Since the values and the point of the entire month have been shook up in the last few years this is only thing to expect. A lot of people don’t get the point of it all and think that fasting is only about not eating, not drinking and not smoking. This has become a social trend during which the bars don’t work and people in this business ‘only loose money’ as I have read in a few articles recently.
   Since Ramadan is a month without alcohol people are nervous, anxious for the holidays and have great expectations for the Bayram celebration. This includes partying like crazy, spending all the cash earned during Bayram on alcohol (for kids who get money from their parents for being so good during Ramadan and fasting – tradition in Bosnia I have no idea whether or not it’s like this in other countries).

I start with some friends of mine who fast but don’t pray, swear, lie, cheat on their partners and all of this during Ramadan claiming to be good religious people. As long as they fast all of their sins would be forgiven… Grrrrr.

Anyways, it is quite well known that in Sarajevo it is not safe to drive during Bayram (any local will tell you this). The biggest number of car accidents and other incident happen during the night of the Eid. Ouch!

2. All the places have reservations for the Bayram party. This is not about religion but about making as much money as possible for the bars which have been almost shut down during the Ramadan since they sold no alcohol (well they did sell but no one way buying besides tourists, foreigners working here…) The tickets for entrances vary from 10 EUR to 1000 EUR depending where you are going, who’s party it is, which place, who is singing, how popular the place is…
At this very moment, many bar owners are rubbing their hands… It will be a lucrative night I am sure.

3. This is one of the rare Bayrams I won’t be with my family. Since both my sister and my dad are working and my mum is not celebrating (she is Catholic but goes along with all of our celebrations) and my grandparents live 200km away, and we have guests coming – I will be spending Bayram in Sarajevo… somehow (due to the reasons stated above) I am not really looking forward to it.

4. Bayram is a big thing especially for families. My mum started baking cakes a few days ago since she is away on a business trip and so is everyone else today’s task for me was to clean, dust, Hoover, iron, wash everything in the house. It has to be spotless for guests, friends and family which might come. And there always has to be Baklava (the national cake which was brought by the Turks to Bosnia – very very very sweet cake made of layers of sweet dough and nuts with syrup over it made out of water and sugar – 1 serving approx 10000 calories).

5. Being seen on a Bayram party is one of the big things in Sarajevo so you have to look nice and wear the nicest clothes you own on the Bayram when men go to pray and women prepare the house for guests. Family comes, people just come and go I used to call it “Eat-Baklava-and-run” race, where people dressed in their fancy clothes, nice make up, hair do’s go to the morning prayer then some go to the cemetery to pay respect to the dead and then go to the house of the oldest man in the family, e.g. since my granddad is the oldest one in the family everyone would go to his house. I brought a special black dress for the occasion. I have almost everything ready, the cakes, the cleaned house, the guests but haven’t decided where to take them yet…
   

Tell us about Bayram in your countries…

Nevertheless, to all who are celebrating as we say in Bosnia:

Bayram Sherif Mubarek Olsun!