Ramadhan is coming
Okay.. i lost my camera’s charger so meanwhile I can’t write posts with pictures in it (which I already planned to do). And since this blog is intended to be about food etc, the one thing that I can talk about in this blog that does not require pictures of food is about— the upcoming month of Ramadhan. In case some of you don’t know, the month of Ramadhan is the month where Muslims around the world (including me) fasts. Which means no food or drink while the sun is still up.
I moved to Australia in 2003 and since then I never did the Ramadhan fasting or the Iedul Fitri (celebration on the end of fasting) at home in Jakarta, Indonesia. And maan oh maaan don’t I miss the air and the atmosphere of Ramadhan in Indonesia.
I miss my mom waking me up at 3 am in the morning to eat (because we can eat, only when the sun is down). I miss the sleepy look on my sisters as they drag themselves to the dining table and the generic Islam trivia phone shows that sort of kept us awake at the hour (my dad and I always tried calling them when we know the answer but we never got through).
After a hard day of fasting, we would skim through the channels on TV to find the fastest and earliest evening call of prayer, which would be a sign that the sun has set and hence we were allowed to eat. Mom would restrict us to only eat just a little something sweet (‘to ease the tummy’ she said) before our evening pray. And after we pray… we FEAST!
We would eat, drink and laugh and tell stories of how hungry we were during the day or talk about any form of temptations we met though the day. And in these moments, I truly and honestly feel very very grateful. It just made me appreciate food, family and other simple things in life better.
That was 2003.
Ever since then, I have to force myself up at 3 am in the morning to… cook (read: heating up leftovers from dinner or frying frozen dumplings). Alone. Sometimes with my roomate staying up with me (she’s there for the food, really). Not to mention that in 2003 or 2004, the time for the sun to set was around 7.30-8 pm. Which means I had to fast longer here than I had to back home. In Indonesia, the sun usually sets at 5.30 pm.
But of course, when the time comes and you let water flow into your throat… the meaning is still the same because at that exact moment, I always feel an unexplainably huge appreciation towards Mount Franklin (or other mineral water brand).
Fasting starts at exactly next week. Wish me luck!
