that's right, it's ram-mer time.
next week is Eid al-Adha, also known as Tobaski in West Africa, the Muslim celebration of Abraham being willing to sacrifice his own son to God as a sign of his obedience. luckily for Ishmael (Abraham's son) Allah was merciful and at the last moment allowed Abraham to sacrifice a ram instead. thus, every year on the 10th day of the 12th Islamic month, Muslims around the world sacrifice a ram (or a cow, or a goat, or a camel) to represent the sacrifice Abraham would have made. Each family here sacrifices, and the 1/3 of the meat is retained, 1/3 is given to relatives, and 1/3 is given to the poor.
i was here for Tobaski last year, so i know generally what will go on. here are some givens for a Gambian Tobaski celebration (or as i like to call it, ram season)...
...you WILL see gellys careening down the roadways at full speed with multiple rams and goats tied to the roof...
...you WILL see children petting and playing with the ram they will be eating hours later...
...you WILL be asked to watch everyone slaughter their rams, no matter how many times you say you don't want to see that...
...you WILL have handfuls of ram meat shoved into your face for at least 3 days...
...you WILL have to buy a fancy new outfit and accessorize it with every sparkly piece of jewelry you can lay hands on...
...you WILL not be able to do any work for the week preceding and the week following Tobaski...
...you WILL hear conflicting reports on which day Tobaski actually begins, and find that different villages celebrate on different days...
...you WILL hear at least one story about a family who's Tobaski ram gave them the slip...
and so many other things. i am very excited for Tobaski this year, partially because I'm going to be spending it with my host family and partially because i'm going to make my students dissect their ram hearts (what a perfect time to be learning the circulatory system). Tobaski is a fun holiday, despite it's seemingly somber roots, it's a very happy time. families come together, everyone goes home from the city to visit their villages, and after the prayer fields in the morning it's nothing but a party. it's the one time the ladies get to try and outshine each other without having to make sure they don't look as good as the baby's mother or bride, like at naming ceremonies or weddings. i'll try and get plenty of pictures, everyone is sure to look amazing.
also, i'm very excited to go to the prayer fields, because i missed it last year due to training activities. i might be the most excited about this, because the sight of everyone in my village praying at once is sure to be a beautiful thing. one of my favorite things about observing the Muslim community I live in is seeing how much their faith unifies them. they believe so strongly as a community, it's almost tangible. i know that it will be a very special morning.
and then we get to sit down on the brand new ram rugs and talk about who has the best new outfit.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
CELEBRATORY NEW LAYOUT
why, you may ask?
because i have officially been in the Gambia for a year (and a few days).
i was busy doing stuff in the village so i didn't get to do any celebration but i decided to redesign the blog. do you like? if you do, great, if you don't tooo bad.
the background looks suspiciously like a coastal village where i spend a majority of my time.
anyways i'll probably do a real post when i can form coherent thoughts.
but for now...just know i made it through my first year. YAY.
because i have officially been in the Gambia for a year (and a few days).
i was busy doing stuff in the village so i didn't get to do any celebration but i decided to redesign the blog. do you like? if you do, great, if you don't tooo bad.
the background looks suspiciously like a coastal village where i spend a majority of my time.
anyways i'll probably do a real post when i can form coherent thoughts.
but for now...just know i made it through my first year. YAY.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
the week doesn't end on a monday
hey everyone. i feel like, thus far, most of my postings have been upbeat and optimistic, or at least had a positive spin. this is partially because i don't want the gentle reader to think i'm having a horrible time, and partially because early on in my service i made a conscious decision to keep myself in a positive mindset, something i work at everyday, and something that has definitely made my service better.
so how do i really feel? i love it. i hate it. i want to go home tonight, i want to stay forever. some days, the only thing keeping me here is knowing that if i were anywhere else in the world, no matter what i was doing, i'd be kicking myself for not being here. and at the end of the day, that's it.
before i came here, i did the opposite of what most people do, i closed my eyes and tried not to learn about Gambia or africa in general. i wanted to be surprised, to see it all with fresh eyes. i don't regret this at all, but i was surprised to find upon arriving here that i have an unquenchable thirst for african literature. not just Gambia, but the Congo, Madagascar, South Africa, Benin, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Egypt, if it's a book set on the continent i want to read it. i thought i would be looking for an escape, but far from it. i can't fill my mind with it, with the unique cultures of the individual tribe mingled with a sameness that flows over the entire continent. it makes me hungry to see it all, far more than i was before i came.
i never really understood why people loved africa. i can't say that my love is the same as anyone else's. i know this: it can tear you down. it can rip you apart. there are days when you couldn't put another grain of rice in your mouth for the world, when it's so hot you pray to fall asleep, when your whole body is sore and your work has only begun. there are days you can't work because your body is railing against whatever you have put in it, sidelining you from all activities except (hopefully) hydrating. but you recover. you eat the rice. you sleep in the wee morning hours, you finish your work. you heal.
it can build you up, too. you can hold an infant just minutes old. you can make friends with old ladies who will tell their entire compound you're coming over to chat, and then beam sweetness on you while you stumble through a language that rolls off your tongue like peanut butter, elated that you have really come to see her. you can watch your trees grow, your gardens flourish, your friendships thrive. you can eat some of the most delicious things you will ever put in your mouth, fruits and rice puddings and fried doughballs, strange meats you don't know the origin of, rice. sometimes rice is all you need.
there are days like roller coasters. you are ecstatic, you are destroyed. you can't move for the life of you, you're ready to ride your bike for 2 hours without another thought. you are strangled by the tight-knit community you exist in, you feel cherished by every one of your "home people." i'm not saying it's just emotional. you see kids getting beaten, people felling precious trees for no reason, and later that day you're laughing at the joyful dances as the women gather in a friends compound, impromptu. you see someone sick go the clinic and get sent home with expired meds. you see mothers unable to read the dosage indications, and wonder what would happen if someone wasn't there to step in. you see failed attempts at development, hard work and infrastructure ground into the ground by natural causes, or worse, inattention. rogue cows destroy fences, fields, a whole season's worth of work gone in 10 minutes. you see the shadow of corruption, the victims of indiscretions. the family with a car and a tv living next door to the family of 8 with 1 bed, no land, no animals to bear their burdens, no well, no prospects for improvement. you see teachers striking their students, you see kids who don't go to school at all because their parents can't afford school fees, so they're faced with the workload of an adult while their peers heap knowledge into their brains, building themselves a much brighter future. or no future at all, if they can't learn because of the underpaid disdain of the teachers and the lack of needed materials, pencils, notebooks, classroom space.
but what i find most striking about africa is how completely alive it is. it is teeming, pulsing, overflowing with life. from the hundreds of crickets living behind the curtains, to the lizard living in the ceiling, to the 18 foot python crawling through the bush and the termites systematically eating everything in their path. ants are everywhere, flies are inescapable. monkeys frolic in the trees, birds shout a chorus from their perches as you pass, and small boys play beneath, or climb up for bush fruit. grasses grow like crazy, weeds busting through the most improbable places. the intensity of life magnifies every day, while making it seem like no time has passed at all since you set foot here. you feel more alive than you ever thought, and you know that it's something you will never fully explain. something you think everyone should know.
one of my favorite mandinka proverbs is the title of this post: the week doesn't end on a Monday. i take this to mean that even if a day is horrible, terrible, the worst you could imagine, don't give up because there's tomorrow. and when you have the worst day you could imagine, and it happens more than you thought possible, you have to say well, that was Tuesday.
what about Wednesday.
and you go on. and africa goes on around you.
so how do i really feel? i love it. i hate it. i want to go home tonight, i want to stay forever. some days, the only thing keeping me here is knowing that if i were anywhere else in the world, no matter what i was doing, i'd be kicking myself for not being here. and at the end of the day, that's it.
before i came here, i did the opposite of what most people do, i closed my eyes and tried not to learn about Gambia or africa in general. i wanted to be surprised, to see it all with fresh eyes. i don't regret this at all, but i was surprised to find upon arriving here that i have an unquenchable thirst for african literature. not just Gambia, but the Congo, Madagascar, South Africa, Benin, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Egypt, if it's a book set on the continent i want to read it. i thought i would be looking for an escape, but far from it. i can't fill my mind with it, with the unique cultures of the individual tribe mingled with a sameness that flows over the entire continent. it makes me hungry to see it all, far more than i was before i came.
i never really understood why people loved africa. i can't say that my love is the same as anyone else's. i know this: it can tear you down. it can rip you apart. there are days when you couldn't put another grain of rice in your mouth for the world, when it's so hot you pray to fall asleep, when your whole body is sore and your work has only begun. there are days you can't work because your body is railing against whatever you have put in it, sidelining you from all activities except (hopefully) hydrating. but you recover. you eat the rice. you sleep in the wee morning hours, you finish your work. you heal.
it can build you up, too. you can hold an infant just minutes old. you can make friends with old ladies who will tell their entire compound you're coming over to chat, and then beam sweetness on you while you stumble through a language that rolls off your tongue like peanut butter, elated that you have really come to see her. you can watch your trees grow, your gardens flourish, your friendships thrive. you can eat some of the most delicious things you will ever put in your mouth, fruits and rice puddings and fried doughballs, strange meats you don't know the origin of, rice. sometimes rice is all you need.
there are days like roller coasters. you are ecstatic, you are destroyed. you can't move for the life of you, you're ready to ride your bike for 2 hours without another thought. you are strangled by the tight-knit community you exist in, you feel cherished by every one of your "home people." i'm not saying it's just emotional. you see kids getting beaten, people felling precious trees for no reason, and later that day you're laughing at the joyful dances as the women gather in a friends compound, impromptu. you see someone sick go the clinic and get sent home with expired meds. you see mothers unable to read the dosage indications, and wonder what would happen if someone wasn't there to step in. you see failed attempts at development, hard work and infrastructure ground into the ground by natural causes, or worse, inattention. rogue cows destroy fences, fields, a whole season's worth of work gone in 10 minutes. you see the shadow of corruption, the victims of indiscretions. the family with a car and a tv living next door to the family of 8 with 1 bed, no land, no animals to bear their burdens, no well, no prospects for improvement. you see teachers striking their students, you see kids who don't go to school at all because their parents can't afford school fees, so they're faced with the workload of an adult while their peers heap knowledge into their brains, building themselves a much brighter future. or no future at all, if they can't learn because of the underpaid disdain of the teachers and the lack of needed materials, pencils, notebooks, classroom space.
but what i find most striking about africa is how completely alive it is. it is teeming, pulsing, overflowing with life. from the hundreds of crickets living behind the curtains, to the lizard living in the ceiling, to the 18 foot python crawling through the bush and the termites systematically eating everything in their path. ants are everywhere, flies are inescapable. monkeys frolic in the trees, birds shout a chorus from their perches as you pass, and small boys play beneath, or climb up for bush fruit. grasses grow like crazy, weeds busting through the most improbable places. the intensity of life magnifies every day, while making it seem like no time has passed at all since you set foot here. you feel more alive than you ever thought, and you know that it's something you will never fully explain. something you think everyone should know.
one of my favorite mandinka proverbs is the title of this post: the week doesn't end on a Monday. i take this to mean that even if a day is horrible, terrible, the worst you could imagine, don't give up because there's tomorrow. and when you have the worst day you could imagine, and it happens more than you thought possible, you have to say well, that was Tuesday.
what about Wednesday.
and you go on. and africa goes on around you.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
computers are a problem.
it's blurry, but it's there. this is me and the oyster spat, they were HUGE this month. that's right, i'm on a boat. don't you ever forget.
i took some good ones that i'll put on facebook eventually, prob sometime after halloween. you know, when things calm down a little. i keep telling myself that's going to happen. anyways, love to you all!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
blue is the new white
happy 10.10.10. when does this happen? the group 350.org took the opportunity to organize a "global work party" to promote awareness amongst the youth about global climate change. we had a beach cleanup party, it was pretty sweet. dancing and raking and some of the kids did a drama about climate change...precious.
otherwise, i'm not sure if y'all heard but i have a new acquisition: a full-grown she-goat named sparkin' (my neighbor's football nickname). she big and beautiful, and i'm throwing her a naming ceremony on friday, much to the excitement of my host family. it's not going to be a real naming ceremony, which would be entirely too ironic because there are 2 types, a nyambo and a koolyio, and the distinction is that at a koolyio you slaughter a goat and a nyambo you only slaughter a chicken. but i don't really wanna slaughter anything. so we're being careful what we call it. she's huge, way bigger than all the other goats that live in my compound. the first night there was a little tussle in the goat hutch and guess who came out on top? absolutely miss sparkin'. she rules the roost.
and maybe my cat's cat is pregnant. pow was introduced to our compound by baby monkey and she eventually adopted us the way cats do, but she's a female and apparently not a lady. my host sister told me that when they don't want dogs to give birth, they give them water with blue powder, and she suggested i try that on pow. i said no. but it did make me think about the mystery that is blue powder.
see, here in the Gam there aren't a whole lot of washing machines, but that doesn't stop people from wanting to wear white. it's kind of a sign of wealth and faith, gleaming white for the most special of occasions. and also, inexplicably, most school uniforms. whites are wanted to be as white as possible, which presents quite a task to the launder-er. the solution? blue powder. they soak they're shirts in this blue powder and therefore after several washings white clothes are definitely bluish, but considered to be a shining beacon of cleanliness. this blue powder is an extreme mystery to me, i've examined the packet but it has no ingredients and it just says the name in english and arabic. what is it? how did this tradition come about, where blue is, in fact, the new white?
and if it can take care of unwanted puppy pregnancies, what else does it do? how much of it is seeping into the ground water? there's a lot of white clothes walking around. well. bluish white.
just another mystery.
otherwise, i'm not sure if y'all heard but i have a new acquisition: a full-grown she-goat named sparkin' (my neighbor's football nickname). she big and beautiful, and i'm throwing her a naming ceremony on friday, much to the excitement of my host family. it's not going to be a real naming ceremony, which would be entirely too ironic because there are 2 types, a nyambo and a koolyio, and the distinction is that at a koolyio you slaughter a goat and a nyambo you only slaughter a chicken. but i don't really wanna slaughter anything. so we're being careful what we call it. she's huge, way bigger than all the other goats that live in my compound. the first night there was a little tussle in the goat hutch and guess who came out on top? absolutely miss sparkin'. she rules the roost.
and maybe my cat's cat is pregnant. pow was introduced to our compound by baby monkey and she eventually adopted us the way cats do, but she's a female and apparently not a lady. my host sister told me that when they don't want dogs to give birth, they give them water with blue powder, and she suggested i try that on pow. i said no. but it did make me think about the mystery that is blue powder.
see, here in the Gam there aren't a whole lot of washing machines, but that doesn't stop people from wanting to wear white. it's kind of a sign of wealth and faith, gleaming white for the most special of occasions. and also, inexplicably, most school uniforms. whites are wanted to be as white as possible, which presents quite a task to the launder-er. the solution? blue powder. they soak they're shirts in this blue powder and therefore after several washings white clothes are definitely bluish, but considered to be a shining beacon of cleanliness. this blue powder is an extreme mystery to me, i've examined the packet but it has no ingredients and it just says the name in english and arabic. what is it? how did this tradition come about, where blue is, in fact, the new white?
and if it can take care of unwanted puppy pregnancies, what else does it do? how much of it is seeping into the ground water? there's a lot of white clothes walking around. well. bluish white.
just another mystery.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
i'm not fasting, and i made a quiz.
hi blogosphere. how are things? i'm busy like the bees, Ramadan's over and I'm 24 now (i know, i know, old lady) and super-busy. our trip to Spain for mine and my grandmother's birthdays (we share one) was amazing, i'm still dreaming about gelato. i just finished a 2 day HIV/AIDs training, so i can more confidently incorporate AIDS education in my work. i've also been working on the tree nursery competition, since my regional co-coordinator and i were in the same place at the same time (a rare occurrence). i made a little quiz for the teachers, to give their students and get incorporate into their lessons about the importance of trees. i know america doesn't have the same tree crisis as over here, but i think the quiz is pretty interesting (probably cuz i made it), and it might even inspire some of you to go out there and plant trees (or at least do some recycling!) anyways, here it is, questions first, answers second so don't scroll down and cheat!
1) One tree produces ______ kg of oxygen per year.
a. 36
b. 82
c.117
d. 250
2) 0.4 hectares of trees remove _______ of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year.
a. 23 kg
b. 2.6 tons
c. 1.2 tons
d. 1 ton
3) The age of a tree can be calculated by ___________.
a. the rings in the trunk
b. the width of the roots
c. it’s height
d. the number of fruits it produces
4) A tree can store the most carbon after it has been alive for _______ - or more!
a. 3 months
b. 2 years
c. 6 years
d. 10 years
5) Trees provide food and shelter for _____________.
a. birds
b. people
c. insects
d. all of the above
6) Worldwide, more than _______ hectares of trees are lost to deforestation every year.
a. 4 million
b. 13 million
c. 12 million
d. 7 million
7) Trees prevent loss of nutrient-rich topsoil by__________.
a. their root systems preventing erosion
b. creating natural windbreaks
c. both a and b
d. none of the above
8) In Africa, out of every ___ trees cut down, only ONE tree is replanted.
a. 28
b. 45
c. 3
d.13
9) Over the past 100 years, West Africa has been stripped of ____ of its forest cover.
a. 20 %
b. 35%
c. 78%
d. 90%
10) People in the Gambia rely on trees for _________.
a. bush fruits
b. medicine
c. fuel wood
d. all of the above…and more!
ANSWERS:
1.C.
One tree produces 117 kg of oxygen per year, the oxygen that we breathe every day. Trees produce oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis, a process by which they take in carbon dioxide and sunlight and use it to create their food (carbohydrates), than release oxygen as a byproduct.
2.B.
Less than one hectare of trees can remove up to 2.6 tons of carbon dioxide from the air every year! Because carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, this means that trees are a major weapon against global climate change.
3.A.
The scientific process of dendrochronology allows scientists to date trees by analyzing the rings seen in the cross-section of a tree’s trunk. A tree usually adds a ring per year, unless the weather that year is irregular.
4.D.
Trees are able to store more carbon as they age, and they store the most after they have been living for ten years. Trees also remove other pollutants from the air, such as ozone (another greenhouse gas) and sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides.
5.D.
Trees are habitats for many different species of animals, and provide building materials for the homes of most humans. Trees even provide homes or shelter for marine animals, such as oysters that live on tree roots or fish that lay eggs there. Trees also provide fruits to flavor our sauces, and feed us, such as baobab and their leaves feed many mammals we live with, such as goats.
6.C.
Deforestation is a serious threat to the health of our environment. At least 12 million hectares of trees are lost every year, and the trees cut down are often not replanted, leaving animals homeless and releasing tons of carbon back into the atmosphere.
7.C.
Not only do trees clean up the air and provide homes for wildlife, they also preserve the land around them. They provide stability with their root systems that keeps soil in place, and they create natural windbreaks that prevent topsoil from being blown away.
8.A.
Only one out of every 28 trees cut down is replanted. This means that out of 100 trees cut down, only three or four new trees are planted. Make it your goal to replace EVERY tree you cut down. Trees are one of the cheapest, easiest ways to clean up our environment.
9.D.
West Africa (including the Gambia) is one of the most severely affected areas of the world. Over 90% of West Africa’s forest cover has been lost over the past century, robbing them of all the benefits of trees. Desertification, the degradation of land in climates such as West Africa has, is accelerated by loss of trees like this.
10.D.
Gambians use trees for many things, such as medicine, shade on hot days, bush tea, flavoring sauces, building houses, cooking, selling fruits to supplement income, fencing fields, and many other things. Can you think of a way not listed here that you and your family use trees?
if i were an 8th grader, this quiz would make me plant a tree. just saying.
love everybody!
casey
1) One tree produces ______ kg of oxygen per year.
a. 36
b. 82
c.117
d. 250
2) 0.4 hectares of trees remove _______ of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year.
a. 23 kg
b. 2.6 tons
c. 1.2 tons
d. 1 ton
3) The age of a tree can be calculated by ___________.
a. the rings in the trunk
b. the width of the roots
c. it’s height
d. the number of fruits it produces
4) A tree can store the most carbon after it has been alive for _______ - or more!
a. 3 months
b. 2 years
c. 6 years
d. 10 years
5) Trees provide food and shelter for _____________.
a. birds
b. people
c. insects
d. all of the above
6) Worldwide, more than _______ hectares of trees are lost to deforestation every year.
a. 4 million
b. 13 million
c. 12 million
d. 7 million
7) Trees prevent loss of nutrient-rich topsoil by__________.
a. their root systems preventing erosion
b. creating natural windbreaks
c. both a and b
d. none of the above
8) In Africa, out of every ___ trees cut down, only ONE tree is replanted.
a. 28
b. 45
c. 3
d.13
9) Over the past 100 years, West Africa has been stripped of ____ of its forest cover.
a. 20 %
b. 35%
c. 78%
d. 90%
10) People in the Gambia rely on trees for _________.
a. bush fruits
b. medicine
c. fuel wood
d. all of the above…and more!
ANSWERS:
1.C.
One tree produces 117 kg of oxygen per year, the oxygen that we breathe every day. Trees produce oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis, a process by which they take in carbon dioxide and sunlight and use it to create their food (carbohydrates), than release oxygen as a byproduct.
2.B.
Less than one hectare of trees can remove up to 2.6 tons of carbon dioxide from the air every year! Because carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, this means that trees are a major weapon against global climate change.
3.A.
The scientific process of dendrochronology allows scientists to date trees by analyzing the rings seen in the cross-section of a tree’s trunk. A tree usually adds a ring per year, unless the weather that year is irregular.
4.D.
Trees are able to store more carbon as they age, and they store the most after they have been living for ten years. Trees also remove other pollutants from the air, such as ozone (another greenhouse gas) and sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides.
5.D.
Trees are habitats for many different species of animals, and provide building materials for the homes of most humans. Trees even provide homes or shelter for marine animals, such as oysters that live on tree roots or fish that lay eggs there. Trees also provide fruits to flavor our sauces, and feed us, such as baobab and their leaves feed many mammals we live with, such as goats.
6.C.
Deforestation is a serious threat to the health of our environment. At least 12 million hectares of trees are lost every year, and the trees cut down are often not replanted, leaving animals homeless and releasing tons of carbon back into the atmosphere.
7.C.
Not only do trees clean up the air and provide homes for wildlife, they also preserve the land around them. They provide stability with their root systems that keeps soil in place, and they create natural windbreaks that prevent topsoil from being blown away.
8.A.
Only one out of every 28 trees cut down is replanted. This means that out of 100 trees cut down, only three or four new trees are planted. Make it your goal to replace EVERY tree you cut down. Trees are one of the cheapest, easiest ways to clean up our environment.
9.D.
West Africa (including the Gambia) is one of the most severely affected areas of the world. Over 90% of West Africa’s forest cover has been lost over the past century, robbing them of all the benefits of trees. Desertification, the degradation of land in climates such as West Africa has, is accelerated by loss of trees like this.
10.D.
Gambians use trees for many things, such as medicine, shade on hot days, bush tea, flavoring sauces, building houses, cooking, selling fruits to supplement income, fencing fields, and many other things. Can you think of a way not listed here that you and your family use trees?
if i were an 8th grader, this quiz would make me plant a tree. just saying.
love everybody!
casey
Friday, September 3, 2010
fasting month
hold on to your headscarves ladies and gents, it's ramadan. or as the mandinka aptly call it, sungkaro, or fasting month. and fast they do. from sun-up to sun-down, no eating. or drinking. and those rice fields aren't going to tend to themselves.
naps are very popular during ramadan.
and, as you might expect, everybody wants to talk about it. there's none of this suffering in silence nonsense that my stoic catholic upbringing may have led me to believe (ok, ok. not that stoic of an upbringing. and i'm aware of the value of a well-timed sigh. i know what catholic guilt is). no, it's more of a shout-it-from-the-rooftops kind of suffering. here's an example of a typical exchange between me and your average ramadan faster, translated from mandinka for your reading pleasure
"hello, do you have peace (a typical greeting here)?"
aisha! (my gambain name). are you fasting today?
"no. i don't fast."
you don't fast? why not? fasting is nice.
"i'm not a muslim. how is your family?"
you should be a muslim. you will fast tomorrow.
"maybe tomorrow i will fast (here, when you say maybe tomorrow i will, that's code for i'm never going to do that. it's pretty handy, unless you actually don't know whether you're going to do something tomorrow or not)"
oh aisha, you should fast. fasting is nice.
"i know. i have to go now"
wait. what time is it? i am so hungry.
"it's 4:30"
aisha, did you know i can't drink water until 7:30? i am so thirsty.
"praise allah."
ok aisha. see you later.
yes, despite being told multiple times how nice fasting is, i remain truly unconvinced. i did go without eating for a few days, more because of a sinus infection than religious conviction. but at least i could lie on the mats with everyone else and complain about how hungry i was. and i did "break fast" with the family at sunset, where you have a small meal to celebrate you can finally eat again. then they pray. a lot. the prayer has reached a new level during these last 10 days of ramadan, where it is said that one of these days (though you can't be sure which one) counts for more than 9 years of prayer and supplication, and fasting. since they don't know which one it is, every night for the last 10 days of ramadan people go to the mosque and pray from 1-4 am, sometimes standing in holy reverance for hours at a time. it's a time of exhausted worship. after praying all night, they eat very early, around 5 am, and then nap, then work in the fields, nap again, break fast, pray, eat dinner, and pray. despite how tedious this sounds, it's not. it's really a very social thing, as well as pious. they get to commiserate. they nap together. they pray together. they mock those who almost fell asleep at the mosque and those who look (ever so slightly) more hungry than the others. all in all, ramadan isn't such a bad deal. for me. because i'm not fasting.
naps are very popular during ramadan.
and, as you might expect, everybody wants to talk about it. there's none of this suffering in silence nonsense that my stoic catholic upbringing may have led me to believe (ok, ok. not that stoic of an upbringing. and i'm aware of the value of a well-timed sigh. i know what catholic guilt is). no, it's more of a shout-it-from-the-rooftops kind of suffering. here's an example of a typical exchange between me and your average ramadan faster, translated from mandinka for your reading pleasure
"hello, do you have peace (a typical greeting here)?"
aisha! (my gambain name). are you fasting today?
"no. i don't fast."
you don't fast? why not? fasting is nice.
"i'm not a muslim. how is your family?"
you should be a muslim. you will fast tomorrow.
"maybe tomorrow i will fast (here, when you say maybe tomorrow i will, that's code for i'm never going to do that. it's pretty handy, unless you actually don't know whether you're going to do something tomorrow or not)"
oh aisha, you should fast. fasting is nice.
"i know. i have to go now"
wait. what time is it? i am so hungry.
"it's 4:30"
aisha, did you know i can't drink water until 7:30? i am so thirsty.
"praise allah."
ok aisha. see you later.
yes, despite being told multiple times how nice fasting is, i remain truly unconvinced. i did go without eating for a few days, more because of a sinus infection than religious conviction. but at least i could lie on the mats with everyone else and complain about how hungry i was. and i did "break fast" with the family at sunset, where you have a small meal to celebrate you can finally eat again. then they pray. a lot. the prayer has reached a new level during these last 10 days of ramadan, where it is said that one of these days (though you can't be sure which one) counts for more than 9 years of prayer and supplication, and fasting. since they don't know which one it is, every night for the last 10 days of ramadan people go to the mosque and pray from 1-4 am, sometimes standing in holy reverance for hours at a time. it's a time of exhausted worship. after praying all night, they eat very early, around 5 am, and then nap, then work in the fields, nap again, break fast, pray, eat dinner, and pray. despite how tedious this sounds, it's not. it's really a very social thing, as well as pious. they get to commiserate. they nap together. they pray together. they mock those who almost fell asleep at the mosque and those who look (ever so slightly) more hungry than the others. all in all, ramadan isn't such a bad deal. for me. because i'm not fasting.
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