How We Celebrated Our Eid

I’ve never really celebrated any Eid in America until this one. Eid used to be like any other day when my normal routine just continued.

After 30 days of fasting during the daylight hours, Eid was celebrated in America on Monday, May the 2nd.

My Eid day begun with a sweet dessert called ‘semai’. After the sweet treat, we (myself, son, wife, and mother-in-law) went to the special Eid prayer organized by Southcentral Pennsylvania’s Muslim community at the State Farm Show complex in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Eid day should always begin with a morning prayer and it did this year for me. Neil and I attended the prayer together for the first time in America. This set this Eid separate from all others. This was also the very first prayer for Neil.

We, inside the PA Farm Show Complex for special Eid Prayer

After the prayer, we went to the City Island, Harrisburg and took some photos.

Father-son chilling on eid morning at City Island with Harrisburg city in the background

Chilling at City Island on Eid morning with Harrisburg city in the background across the Susquehanna river

We then drove to Amish Country in Lancaster. We stopped by Kettle Kitchen and bought some Amish made jams, sweet pickles, crackers, and donuts. The main fun activity was the Amish buggy ride. The ride took us around the Amish homes and fields where we observed farmers working on the field, peach and apple orchards, and gotten a briefing on the Amish lifestyles by the tour guide who himself was an Amish. The tour took 40 minutes to complete.

Amish Country Lancaster. He was saying cheese and showing that his teeth were visible and ready for the shot

Amish horse buggy ride, the best experience

Waiting for foods at an Amish restaurant at Kettle Kitchen Farmers market

Following the Amish tour, we took Neil to Kings Swings, a well known playground for kids in Lancaster. Getting Neil to a playground is the easiest thing in the world, easier than water flowing downhill but getting him out is the opposite, an uphill battle. After winning this battle at the expense of Neil’s thousand screams and tears, we came home in preparation for a dinner invite at a friend’s place.

Neil having fun at Kings Swings mega playground in Lancaster

We were invited for a special Eid dinner by our friends, Nayeem and Sibat, at their residence in Harrisburg. Nayeem and Sibat are two generous people who continued the Bangladeshi tradition of offering exceptional hospitality to guests and prepared a feast that was more than delicious and fulfilling. It was a perfect meal-and-greet to finish the Eid-day with.