Ramadan
By the time that this post goes live on the blog, Ramadan will be in full swing. It is set to begin on May 5th, give or take a day based on the moon. Everyone except for young kids and pregnant and nursing mothers will be fasting in my village. This means no food and no water from sunrise (around 5:30 or 6:00am) until sundown (7:00 to 7:30pm). I am planning to join them in abstaining from eating, but I will be going into my room every now and then to drink water. I am planning to be in my village for approximately the first 10 days and last 10 days of Ramadan--in between I will be going on a short vacation to the beach with a couple other volunteers.
Fasting is something I have been interested in trying for a little while, and this is a perfect opportunity. In the US, I never skipped meals. Food was always around and I rarely got sick, so there was no reason not to eat. In Senegal, there have been a few days in my village when I have been sick and not felt like eating. On these days, I lay in my hut, drink lots of water, and try to stay cool. In this context, I have fasted for a 24-hour period multiple times since installing in December. It is comforting to learn that I do not need to eat three regular meals a day to survive. I can skip one here or there and my body will keep on going as before. I will not die in a fiery crash (as a ski instructor once told me to convince me that it was okay to actually point my skis down the hill). I am excited to see how my body feels after a prolonged period of daily fasting.
From what I have heard from other volunteers, Ramadan is a time when no work gets done in the village. This year, Ramadan happens to coincide with the hottest month of the year (May). People do a lot of sitting around and napping during the day because they have no energy and it is too hot to do much work anyway. In Senegal, sitting around and drinking attaya go hand-in-hand, but attaya is not allowed while fasting! Some volunteers have told me that their villages become somewhat nocturnal during Ramadan. People stay up at night to eat, talk, and drink tea, then sleep away the fasting hours of the morning and afternoon. It is too hot for me to sleep during the hot hours of the day, so I might not be able to fully adapt to this nocturnal schedule. I hope I can eventually learn to sleep in the heat, but that might be something my body is just not built for. I foresee a lot of reading, studying Jaxanke, writing, napping, and chatting in my future.
An explanation of the Philip Roth reference in the blog post "Sweating" from a few weeks ago:
The first part of Philip Roth's novel Indignation is called "Under Morphine." I thus titled the first part of Sweating "Under ORS." So that I do not give away anything about Indignation, I will stop my explanation here. It is a great book. If you would like a slightly longer explanation of my reference that will give away the book, send me an email.
Fasting is something I have been interested in trying for a little while, and this is a perfect opportunity. In the US, I never skipped meals. Food was always around and I rarely got sick, so there was no reason not to eat. In Senegal, there have been a few days in my village when I have been sick and not felt like eating. On these days, I lay in my hut, drink lots of water, and try to stay cool. In this context, I have fasted for a 24-hour period multiple times since installing in December. It is comforting to learn that I do not need to eat three regular meals a day to survive. I can skip one here or there and my body will keep on going as before. I will not die in a fiery crash (as a ski instructor once told me to convince me that it was okay to actually point my skis down the hill). I am excited to see how my body feels after a prolonged period of daily fasting.
From what I have heard from other volunteers, Ramadan is a time when no work gets done in the village. This year, Ramadan happens to coincide with the hottest month of the year (May). People do a lot of sitting around and napping during the day because they have no energy and it is too hot to do much work anyway. In Senegal, sitting around and drinking attaya go hand-in-hand, but attaya is not allowed while fasting! Some volunteers have told me that their villages become somewhat nocturnal during Ramadan. People stay up at night to eat, talk, and drink tea, then sleep away the fasting hours of the morning and afternoon. It is too hot for me to sleep during the hot hours of the day, so I might not be able to fully adapt to this nocturnal schedule. I hope I can eventually learn to sleep in the heat, but that might be something my body is just not built for. I foresee a lot of reading, studying Jaxanke, writing, napping, and chatting in my future.
An explanation of the Philip Roth reference in the blog post "Sweating" from a few weeks ago:
The first part of Philip Roth's novel Indignation is called "Under Morphine." I thus titled the first part of Sweating "Under ORS." So that I do not give away anything about Indignation, I will stop my explanation here. It is a great book. If you would like a slightly longer explanation of my reference that will give away the book, send me an email.
Ramadan is also a time to experience gratitude and goodwill towards others. The breaking of the fast each evening is so eagerly anticipated and the drink so sweet. I think you'll be surprised at how much fun these evenings will be! The fasting is harder for Muslims back here, where sunrise is even earlier and sunset is even later, but when Ramadan falls in June, it's even harder than this! Anyway, enjoy the month+ and take it easy!
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