Eid-ul-Fitr - Johnny Appleseed Festival

Its a week late but here it goes: We had a great Eid in Fort Wayne, IN. Omar and I go there because our in-laws are there and just to be together as a family. Eid was on a Sunday this time. This meant that the celebration was big and beautiful. There was an Eid Congregation namaz in the morning. I have to say one thing that makes Eid gatherings very beautiful in Fort Wayne is that the community is large enough for a whole spectrum of races and nationalities: Indian, Pakistani, Bosnian, Indonesian, African, African-American, Afganistani, Arab and Caucasion. It is also small enough (150-300 persons) to be able to interact and mix easily. Naturally, you have ethnic and social cliques but still, on a day like Eid, when we all get out of our cars in the parking lots, we can greet and compliment each others cultural outfits and just get so happy with the diversity.

So Eid Namaz/Prayers was followed by going home. I took that opportunity to call up relatives and wish them all Eid Mubarik. That was a fun thing to do for the next hour or so. Later on we went to a brunch and then in the evening we went to a dinner. Now, I won't lie to you, these social gatherings can be a hit or a miss for us. If the food isn't fantastic (it often is than not) Omar and I just sit in our respective corners just doing not much. We know some of the people in these communities but its difficult to have a strong relationship with them as we only see them once or twice a year at these types of functions. So sometimes I'll sit alone just in the middle of a sea of women or sometimes I'll sit next to an interesting young woman (I'm talking older than at least 30 because anyone younger than that doesn't really show much maturity - actually there is no one in the mid and late twenties age group anyways). The latter happened at dinner where I actually sat next to a nice, young lady from India who ran a medical supplies import company. She was a refreshing person to talk to and I was happy to have met her. We talked about life, swapped experiences, and talked a little about her work.

We did do something interesting this Eid. We went to the Johnny Appleseed Festival. We basically found out about the festival from my sister-in-law, Aishah, who did a recent report on the festival. You can read more detail about it here. It was the festival's last day and she and I, both wanted to go badly. We basically dragged Afiah and Omar out of the brunch and headed for the festival (short stopover at the house to change out of our glitzy clothes).

All I have to say that the festival was truly spectacular and very entertaining. The theme was around the 1800s and around apples! We had everything apple and handmade. Apples in Caramel Butter, Caramel Dipped Candied Apples with Nuts, Chicken Dumpling Soup, Apple Cider, Caramel Popcorn.....it was such a blast! There was a lot more stuff but we had only time to sample these. Besides food, there was handmade crafts, pottery, jewelry, iron-wrought crafts, woolen items like hats, scarves and mittens. I purchased Handmade Beeswax Lip Balm, Hand Lotion, and Sandalwood Sea Salts with my Eid money.

All in all, I have to say...it was a very special event...I would so love to go again Inshallah! Ironically, this Eid we only took one picture. Its of me at the fair.