As September 2010 approaches, I realize I have come to the very end of my the experience I embarked on last September—Indonesia.
It’ been almost 12 months, and things are coming full circle. When I arrived in this crazy city it was to find the people of Indonesia celebrating the end of one of the biggest holiday in the Muslim calendar. Now, it’s that time again—Ramadan.
And this time I get to experience it from beginning to end. Ramadan occurs on the ninth month of the Muslim calendar (appropriately named…Ramadan!) …which means that it occurs at a different time every year for the regular calendar.
So what does Ramadan mean for Muslims so far? Now, I don’t know all the details, and I won’t pretend to be an expert…but I can tell you what I’ve seen. To celebrate Ramadan, Muslim people practice fasting, which means they cannot eat food, drink, smoke, swear, or do anything considered “impure” during the daylight hours. In order to…uh…not die during this month of fasting..they wake up extra early, before the sun rises, and before the first days sholat (prayer)..known as fajr. They wake up so early for sahur…a morning’s feast so they can successfully get through the day. When dark falls and maghrib (the fourth prayer of the day) has finished, it’s time for breaking fast! Which (not surprisingly) significantly improves the moods of the Indonesians, and my students in particular.
And what does Ramadan mean for me so far? It means my students are pretty unhappy..at least until 6:00 rolls around. And It means I can’t (or rather shouldn’t) drink water while teaching. It means I have to sneak around at lunchtime in an attempt to avoid offending, or rather tempting, my colleagues at work. And it means that my friends and I often find ourselves eating at restaurants and drinking at bars with sheets hung at the windows and alcohol served in coffee mugs so as not to upset the fasters. But the most frustrating part for me personally, is that many of my favorite places to hang out at night close at 1 or 2am instead of 5am. Because, it seems you can do whatever you want during Ramadan…as long as the sun is not up! But we are only about two weeks into Ramadan, and I am sure there is much more to see and experience. So…more blogs to come..I think. Oh…and by the way…I’ve just agreed to stay an extra 6 months with my school! Have a great day! ..kristin..
