" What holiday do you celebrate?"
" Mostly Christmas" I replied.

Unlike many countries in the western hemisphere that put emphasis on days leading up to Christmas and New Year, Indonesia has their long holidays during Eid. The muslim in the country celebrates their biggest day after fasting for a month. This holiday is anticipated by many of all ages because there are some fun traditions that happen during the main day. However, not only them benefiting from the holiday, other people who are not muslim have their chance to also have a long vacation. Eid is such a huge celebration in the country that it's always festive in islands like Java or Sumatra and even during these days stores are closed and only a few remain open. It is almost like a day where everyone gets the chance to see their family and experience togetherness. I personally do not celebrate the holiday but respecting my mom and her family, I joined the fun. There are some traditions during Eid that I used to like and still participate in for the sake of respecting the culture. Here are some that I can mention;

• Eidi

In some countries, it's called eidiyah but Indonesians call it "angpao" which actually is the Indonesian version of "hóngbāo". Pretty much like the Chinese during their new year, Indonesians give money that is wrapped inside a small pocket from someone of older age to the younger age but even if you are of old age and you don't have a job, sometimes you can still get "angpao". Not only within families, In Indonesia civil workers and workers also receive their bonus during Eid al-Fitr and for some, it's the only time where they get a bonus. All this leads to the next tradition, mass exodus or homecoming.

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• Visiting the family

During this long holiday and with extra money they receive, many people get the chance to see their family. Homecoming is often done by people who work outside of their hometown. Usually, the capital of Indonesia would be slightly empty as many of its people are actually from cities around Java or even outside the island. During this long holiday, they are back to their hometown to see their family and would be back before their job starts again.

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• Visiting neighbors

Not just family, during this day people visit each other's houses to catch up with life. Even if you rarely talk to your neighbor, they'd still come visit during this day. Hence why, during EID, people provide snacks, sometimes food and even money. Giving the eidi or the money isn't exclusive to family, it can also be given to neighbors, extended family or even strangers.

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• New clothes

There's a saying, " It's not Eid if you're not wearing new clothes". This is why leading up to EID, people buy the latest fashion because of the tradition to wear new clothes. In some families, they even wear similar couple attire. Eid is also a huge contributor to retail and fashion industry sales.

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• Eating Ketupat

It's really optional but many families that stick to the tradition will serve ketupat, a steamed rice dish inside a young palm leaves. For the side, normally it is served with boiled egg, fried beef liver and diced potato cooked in spicy sambal.

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_{Image sources : 1. Latern by Martin Zangerl via Unspalsh 2. Ketupat By Mufid Majnun via unsplash 3. clothes by Lucas Hoang via unsplash}

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