As part of Eid celebrations, we Maldivians do all sorts of stuff.
One of them that I totally do not understand is that of Maali Parade
(demon is the closest word that I can think of to translate Maali).
I would like to think this is a tradition brought to us from another foreign land.
This has remained part of our Eid festivities for a long time and yet
I find it very foreign, very alien, very out of this world.
I mean what could this really have to do with a religious holiday!!! 
But then again, the whole point of Eid is to have fun. And doing something different with a community spirit I guess is as good as it can get.
Now this above is a totally foreign creature to the Maldives.
But recently we have seen an influx of these giant iguanas being imported as pets.
It saddens me to see these beings take out of their natural habitats to be brought into this foreign land which I think is not the best environment for their survival.
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A post in response to this Week’s Photo Challenge: Foreign
Wow, great submission to the weekly challenge! That definitely sounds like a foreign concept, at least to me! Thanks for sharing,
Nate
Foreign to me too… and i’ve seen it for decades and decades
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very nice take on the theme Amira
thanks dear
How wonderfully entertaining… I love the masquerades on the street… Great garb
I enjoy watching them too.
But they are just so alien … but cute too. especially when tiny tots are dressed up like that. That there were two children must be 6 or 7 … i couldn’t get a picture as they were running around with such glee
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What is maali parade? I heard this for the first time? Guess its fun!
It’s sort of tribal dance kind of thing that we see aboriginal Indians or any similar tribe perform.
)
People just dress up in “jungle-like” attire (at a loss for words to how to explain this
It’s fun but a bit scary too.
The jungle-like attire? Cool:D
hehe
that’s the closes we the tropical island country gets to the concept of jungle.
it’s more like tribal i guess
Have never hear of the parade. Looks interesting. And the last point is quite relevant – only ‘expats’ like us could feel the real pain!
It;s pretty common here in Maldives – especially on other parts other than the capital city.
And yes. living on a foreign land has its pains. I certainly felt home sick every time I was overseas.
It’s ok to live on a foreign land for a few days, weeks or even few months – so long as we know we are returning to our habitat
I love the Maali Parade photo. Does one of them have a fishing net around him (the yellow thing)? It sounds like a Mardi Gras, but those are foreign to me too because I never did get to go to one.
yes Sheila. that indeed is a fishing net.
I guess we, the fishing people, will always associate our culture with fishing