Photo by Peace Cake
Eid is a great opportunity for most of us to gather with the nuclear and extended family and catch up on each others’ updates. As some gatherings go smoothly, with nothing odd to mention, others can go completely wild.

So for some family members Eid is a great opportunity to talk to you about your 5th cousin who graduated, did their masters and PhD, got married and is now pregnant with their first baby. At the same time giving you this side look that secretly says “Khalik enta a3ed keda” or “khaliki enty a3dalna kda.” You might still be in college, and you truly might go around looking for f**ks to give and can’t find any.

If you are still blessed with the presence of grandma, however, you will never get enough of the “how skinny you are” speech. Having “El Danny” being cooked at home, your plate will never go empty. You will probably end up gaining 10 kgs towards the end of the vacation, and with a 3edeya in your hands.

There will also be those cousins who are nagging all day to go out with their friends. They will certainly use the “you didn’t let me travel with my friends, at least let me go out with those who stayed” card. It will work! You, on the other hand, will most likely be sitting there with a yellow smile on your face, hoping you will stay unnoticed till the end of the evening to avoid the next statement, especially if you’re a girl.

El sana el gaya f beitek inshaallah”… Auntie I promise you when I get married I will travel for Eid vacation to avoid the question that will follow: “mafish 7aga gaya fel sekka?” Why is it your business, seriously? I understand you care and all and that you ask because you want to be happy for us, but if I was pregnant, I would have said.

Then there is my all time favorite, the family gathering gossip. Every single person in the room will be shouting around gossip simultaneously while you’re just sitting there gathering all the information you need. They finish every sentence with let’s not talk about people, who knows what they’re going through; after they had already said all what’s there to be told.

Those gatherings, no matter how annoying they can get, turn out to be the best memories anyone can have. You will miss them if they stopped happening, or when everyone goes about with their own plan. Let’s appreciate the fun we have, suck it up and enjoy our time with our families. Switch that yellow smile mentioned above into a genuine one.