Idul Adha: It's No Petting Zoo

A few months back, I was skyping my good friend and informant on Islamic culture, Zohaib. Zohaib, who lived in both Pakistan and the US, gives me some of the best advice on cultural difference. Today's warning: The second Eid. Zohaib warns me of a strange and sometimes vomit-inducing holiday where animals are slaughtered on the street and in mosques. "I don't know how it is in Indonesia," Zohaib warns, "but it makes a lot of foreigners sick in Pakistan." Curious, I asked a few Indonesian friends and they confirmed what Zohaib told me. "Makes foreigners sick! It makes me sick! Too much blood," one friend mentioned. I guess its a good thing I don't have an uneasy stomach.

As the day approached, livestock pins popped up every few miles. A lot of times children were looking at the animals with their parents, which made them seem like petting zoos--petting zoos with an ending fit for Ted Nugent.

Then came the day--I was surprised at how little blood I actually saw (The fact I woke up around 2 pm, after the sacrifice had happened, might have had something to do with it) I ended up going over to my friend Agung's house to make sate (the national dish) from the meat slaughtered that morning. At fist, I was given the job of cutting the meat into grillable cubes. Clumsy me, I knocked over a piece of liver into a bag on the floor and Agung's mom had to fish it out. While Agung's mom had washed the meat earlier, no one washed it after. I'm pretty sure this is a cultural difference and not me not realizing I was supposed to wash something (I hope at least haha). Next, I put the flavored cubes onto skewers. This, I was able to do without a hitch.

Then came the Grilling. If you are American, you've probably been to a few summer barbeques. Remember that large charcoal grill? You or one of your parents would light it, close the top until the charcoal glows red, then watch your steak, ribs, or tin-foiled veggies until they are done. Indonesian grilling is a bit more labor intensive: you crouch over tiny floor grills and fan the charcoal until it turns red. When I mean fan, I MEAN FAN: you vigorously flap around whatever piece of plywood or cardboard you have at your disposal and you don't stop until you think its done, realize its not, and then start fanning again. That process is a whole lot more exhausting compared to the American grills with lids that do the same thing. Next, you put the raw sate on, cook it until it's brown on the outside, cover it in more sauce and repeat. After an hour or so of preparing this meal, you finally get to eat it! It was a quite tasty treat and I was able to make some new friends even if it gave me horrible food poisoning the next day.