The Man Who Saw The Moon.

Well we have all come across a very interesting Islamic public holiday today.

We were informed at the beginning of the week that Friday might be a public holiday...we more or less forgot about it until Thursday at the office and it needed to be determined whether or not we were to come to work the next day.  'Oh...I don't know', said our admin lady.  'Well....is it or isn't it?'  I asked trying to hide my smile...'Well...she said we won't know until late tonight.'  Now I began to realise perhaps she was serious.  'So how will everyone know whether or not to come into work?'  My colleague mumbled something and left me to figure out what it means that you don't know whether or not it's a public holiday until late at night.

Well...later on in the day another Tanzanian friend decided to take the time to explain it to me and all became as clear as mud.

'We won't know whether or not it is a public holiday until the man can see the moon', he said.  'The moon?' I asked...I had to suppress the urge to giggle...'Yes' he said.  'At eight oclock tonight an Islamic man will go outside and if he can see the moon it will be a public holiday...if he can't see it, we all come to work.' 

'Is it the end of the moon cycle?' I asked.  My friend replied...'Yes it is so it is considered special if he can see the moon - hence the holiday.'

So later on that evening when we were all at home group for church, we discussed this interesting way of forming a public holiday.  My house stuff had already told me earlier in the day that she wouldn't be in the next day because it undoubtedly would be a day off.  It made me doubt whether the Islamic man from wherever he came from would ever say 'nope...can't see the moon.  Sorry everyone - back to work!!'

As we were leaving home group I asked the guard at the gates - 'is tomorrow a public holiday?'  'Yes!' he replied...so there you have it.  Today we are all inside...we've dismissed our guard so the house is quiet from Tanzanians...well it was until a plumber turned up on our doorstep deciding to use this opportunity to catch up on his quotes.  So he'll be around but otherwise we are sitting enjoying the quiet, doing our school work and quietly being thankful to the 'man who saw the moon'.