For non-Muslims in the UAE, Eid al Adha is the most notable for this: It is the longest holiday on the calendar.

At The National, this was a one-day work week. Sunday. Eid al Adha then began on Monday, hit a zenith today and continues on for two more days, at least in the governmental realm.

Newspapers and holidays, however, have always had an uneasy relationship. Newspapers and the holidays of any religion. Because daily newspapers come out … daily. Even on holy days/holidays.

So, most of us in the newsroom just worked right through the holiday. That’s just how it is. I worked Christmas most of my life, too.

Eid al Adha moves around on the calendar. It generally is 10-12 earlier than the year before.

If you aren’t a Muslim and haven’t been checking on when the holiday comes (and this is the second Eid al Adha we’ve spent in the Middle East), one tipoff is when you see sheep and lambs and goats in the neighborhood. And we have, here in the Hadbat al Zafranah neighborhood.

Granted, this is a surprisingly rural “city” area … with roosters crowing each morning and chicken coops here and there. But we generally don’t have ungulates nibbling at grass on the semi-park area between the housing areas and Airport Road.

We have, this week. And we realized that all the animals we saw were almost certainly intended to be sacrificed by a head of household as a key part of the Eid celebration. We have done stories here in which authorities suggest that sacrificing a fairly large animal in, say, your bathroom is not a great idea. But it goes on.

This is a happy holiday, and gifts are given, and charity is important and families dress up and get together for celebrations.

And the country pretty much shuts down. All governmental offices closed. Most employees of Abu Dhabi Media Company off for four consecutive days.  Interesting concept, though, taking off a whole week for a religious holiday. This year, it’s Monday through Thursday, which then takes us to Friday — which is the start of the regular weekend and more days off.

Unless you’re a print journalist, of course. Then it’s business as usual, putting out the paper. That’s standard, across the planet.