It was amonth to the day that I began the journey of my first-ever Ramadan. Eid is
among us, and there is cause to celebrate. For one whole month, Muslims, and
those tagging along during this holy tradition endured a daytime fast, a whole
lot of prayer, and the many other aspects of Ramadan.
As a
first-timer, this was a unique experience. One of my deciding factors for
participating in Ramadan this year, was that the family I am staying with are
Muslim. I thought it might be rude to be cooking a desirable smelling lunch
while everyone around me fasted. Well, it turns out the joke was on me –
exemptions of participation include children and pregnant folks. Mama is
pregnant, and the two boys are children, so they didn’t participate. Papa was
away during the weeks, and was only home on Saturdays and the occasional
Sunday, so on those few occasions there was someone else fasting. Everyone else
who stays within the same compound, including Mama’s brother, are Christian, so
they, too, are also exempt from fasting! So, I, in effect, was the only one in
my Muslim compound partaking in
Ramadan… This meant I was the one
that had to endure the tempting scents of cooking food during lunch time!
But aside
from that, the experience was so much more. The meditation became a place of
solace. It gave me time to think, to grieve, to be thankful, but most
importantly to reflect. As the month went on, I became so much more aware of my
feelings, of my mental state, and of what I was wanting – or perhaps needing –
from life. I can’t recall a time that I’ve ever been more aware of my inner
workings, nor my surroundings, and that has been the most rewarding part of
this experience.
Fasting was
not as much of a challenge as I’d anticipated; although some days were more
difficult than others. I missed coffee, as the early morning hours made me feel
sleepy throughout the day. And sure, I could have had it, but I was worried
about the mid-afternoon caffeine crash/shakes. You know, the ones that require
you to get something in your system in order to stave off?! I was actually
quite surprised how easy the first few days were and yet how challenging the
last week became. I found between 1 and 4 to be the times that I felt the fast
the most, and occasionally around 10 or 11AM, which is when I would normally
start thinking about breakfast. And now that the fasting as finished, I’m
really struggling to eat, as I’m no longer used to scarfing down multiple meals
a day!
Following
the month-long fast is Eid – the big celebration culminating the end of
Ramadan. Isma, my boda driver and good friend, spoke all month long about how
great this celebration was going to be. He told me about years past, all the
food that would be prepared, and insisted I join his family. I was all too
happy to attend, and had this in mind throughout the month, especially in times
where I was wanting to break before it was time. But, as many of the other
expectations went, the morning of Eid, Isma awoke to an empty house. His mother
had left to spend Eid in the village, meaning there would be no celebration for
Isma, nor I! Luckily, the family I lived with sent me a plate from their
celebration, which was both delicious and thoughtful… although a little strange
that I was not invited to join them while we all ate. Nevertheless, I enjoyed
this gesture and thanked them for thinking of me.
 |
| Eid dinner, as provided by my neighbours - rice, chapati, Irish, and matoke, with beef stew! |
Now to sum
it all up. In the post I wrote at the start of Ramadan, I indicated that
following each prayer time – of which I decided to meditate rather than pray –
I would make note of one thing that I was grateful for. At the time, I thought
that this would involve 152 items, but because of the date on which Ramadan
ended, it ended up being (only!) 148!
I also decided that instead of just writing each thing down and posting a long
list of randomly placed things, I would record myself identifying each of the
148 areas of gratitude. The result is a (just under) 6-minute video. Many of
the things I list came to me fairly easy, although some days were a bit more
challenging.
One that I
left out, was how grateful I am for all of you who follow the blog faithfully* (and even those who just check in from time-to-time!). Life is pretty amazing,
and I learned just how much I take for granted. I would love to know what
things you are grateful for, as well, so feel free to send me a message, or
leave it in the comments below!
-the Orange
Canadian
*And also bacon... actually I had accumulated a little list of additional things that weren’t included.
