Rama-done!

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.

More hugs, less hate

It seems impossible to think that only a few days ago I was sitting in front of my laptop trying to pen out my thoughts on what seems to be a surge in terrorist activity lately, and yet here I am once again thankful that my loved ones have escaped harm.

I’ve been fairly quiet over the last two months when it comes to the events taking place in the world. Why do I use ‘2 months’ as my indicator? Well, that was when the world was temporarily outraged by a chemical attack that took place in Syria. Sure, I spoke out briefly when it came to the incident in Manchester a few weeks ago, but other than that, I’ve been keeping close-lipped. It’s not that I don’t care, or that I haven’t been thinking about it, but, in fact, the very opposite. 

You might recall a previous experience about Syria from my time in Manchester, when a course I was taking concluded with a Syria focused presentation and partial viewing of one of the most brutal, honest, and heartbreaking documentations of this horrific situation. I would once again encourage you to watch the video below if you want to understand why the many refugees can’t simply “go back to their own country”. However, please be aware it is quite graphic and at times very difficult to watch. Viewer discretion is advised, and viewing my children should not be permitted.

A&EWZ [couchtripper] by couchtripper

Sadly, the incidents that have taken place in the wake of the Manchester bombing seem to have been silenced by the fact that they, once again, did not take place in a Western part of the world. Of course, the recent incident in London is an exception to this silence, but one that further proves just how little “we” care about places for which we know little or have already cast aside because “that sort of activity happens all the time there, and nothing we can do will change that.¹” But where was this outrage when Kabul was under attack last week? Where was the call to action when various groups of those observing Ramadan where targeted?

I don’t mean to sound cynical, but, it’s hard to suggest that this selective care is merely a coincidence. The issues that led to the little international attention that has been received on these non-Western incidents have stemmed from civil unrest that took place long before any news coverage began to display the horrible tragedies that have taken place. And, if we’re really honest with ourselves, our Western status carries a lot of the blame. It’s also greatly related, I believe, to these recent tragedies in the UK, and previously throughout Europe (France, Belgium, Germany). We can’t be dropping bombs and interfering in countries where we have no business being and not expect retaliation or uproar from the countries impacted by our “we know what’s right” decision-making.

So, how do we change the current trajectory? How do we make this better? I don’t have the answers, and I’d be willing to bet that no one with the actual power to do something about it does either. My greatest wish is that we could just all have one massive global hug and come to an understanding that though we may have some differences in culture, language, or beliefs, we are all fundamentally the same – we’re all from the same human race, after all. I said this in the Manchester post, and I’ll say it again here – Imagine a world where people acted with compassion towards others not in their hometown, country or even continent, the way they would if a tragedy happened to hit there. Imagine if every time these events happened we showed kindness instead of fear, negativity, hate-speech, etc. This is what I long to see in this world, and it’s not going to come easy, if ever. But, I’m willing to fight for it, even if it’s just me. Because, I want to live in a world where people are at least trying to make it a better, happier, safer place. So please, I beg of you, less hate, more hugs!

-the Orange Canadian

¹And yes, I have had that conversation with fellow Western folks… too many times to count over the last number of years.