Iraqis in America keen to preserve their Eid traditions

WASHINGTON / IraqiNews.com: Iraqis in the United States of America were keep to preserve their traditions and celebrations during Eid al-Fitr holidays, despite the difference of living traditions there, whilst some of them felt that celebrating the Eid outside their country made them feel like “foreigners.”   Nada Ahmed, living in San-Diego city of the US State of California, told IraqiNews.com that the first day of Eid al-Fitr, “had forced me to visit some relatives and friends, living in my city, in order to exchange congratulations on th Eid Holiday, despite that it was not considered as ‘day-off’ in the United States.”   “The first day of the (3-day) Eid had been a very hard day, because of being a working day here in the United States, when I had to spend the evening, after I returned from my work, to visit friends, in a different tradition than that in Iraq, when we used to visit our relatives during the Holidays,” Nada told IraqiNews.com news agency.   Some Iraqis in America see that the Eid makes them feel as “foreigners” because of being away from the Mother Land and relatives in Iraq .   “I feel like a stranger during the Eid days, more than any other day, because it revives the feeling of love for the Homeland, the relatives, the beloved ones and friends in Iraq,” Yaacub Youssef, who had spent about 2 years in the United States, said.   Nowras Khaldoun, an Iraqi living in the US State of Georgia, expressed hope that security and stability would return to Iraq , in order to enable him to spend his Eid in Iraq , instead of spending it abroad.   Lady Engineer Widad Abdul-Qader, a California resident, told IraqiNews.com: “We are keen to prepare special Iraqi sweats and cakes, such as the famous ‘Kulicha’ cakes, in order to keep our feelings towards the Eid.”   Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis live the United States , where they moved to since the beginning of the waves of immigration that started since the 1970s of the last century, especially over the past 2 years, when the U.S. opened the doors of immigration for the Iraqis to the United States .   Noteworthy is that millions of Muslims in different parts of the world celebrate Eid al-Fitr Holidays that begin after about 30 days of fasting from eating and drinking during the days of the holy month of Ramadan, beginning from dawn till the sunset.   SKH (FT) 830