Rameh Dawn to Rameh Dusk

(Disclaimer: These are purely my observations and experiences in my village. They are not indicative of Ramadan elsewhere and the terminology I have used is either Bahasa Indonesia or local dialect)

I’m trying to think of whether there was ever a time that Ramadan entered my life in America. I remember in 6^th grade, one of my friends was fasting but I never understood why or for what reason. After that I've had a number of Muslim friends but we were living in a secular country so aside from my female friends dressing conservatively and wearing a hijab, I knew nothing else. I knew they prayed 5 times a day but I had never seen them pray. The closest I had been to a Mosque were the mushollas (small praying areas) in the airports of Dubai, Bahrain and UAE. Now that I’m here in Indonesia, I've learned so much. 

Since the majority is Muslim here, Islam is a way of life. Even though I’m not Muslim, it dictates my way of life here as well, my adaptation here is not simply cultural but religious assimilation as well. The two go hand-in-hand in the villages of Java where PCVs find themselves. I’m still trying to understand Ramadan, but from what I've found even though everyone is miserable because their hungry and thirsty, this is the time of year they look forward to the most. During Ramadan, my counterparts and host family were telling me that the hunger and thirst we feel when fasting (I say we because I’m fasting as well) reminds them of the poor and how they feel everyday not just from dawn to dusk. During Ramadan, people are more generous, patient and genuinely kind to one another. I suppose if I was to find an equivalent in Catholicism it would be Lent. 

During Ramadan, the days start earlier, by 3:00am you can hear the first alarm go off to wake everyone up for Sahur (the meal you eat before the first prayer) by 4:27am the last alarm goes off to begin the day’s fast. These alarms sound like a car alarm followed by a man yelling through the loudspeakers “SAHUR SAHUR SAHUR” so everyone knows to wake up, cook, eat and pray. There’s a mosque around every corner, so every mosque follows the same protocol. Everyone goes back to sleep, some people stay awake and continue their day. Now everyone fasts until 6:00pm which is when the alarms go off again, to tell everyone to “BUKA PUASA” which is when you break the fast. During the month of Ramadan, everyone gets together more often. It’s the time of year when the family eats as one every time, when communities gather to watch the sunset, everyone goes out to play and interact right before the fast is broken. They call it "rameh" everything and everyone is friendly. In my village we go to the railroad tracks among the rice paddies before sunset, then we return home to break the fast with our families and after everyone has eaten there is traweh (sp?) where the community prays together at the mosque every night. 

The other day I went and I prayed with everyone, it was one of the better decisions I had made when it comes to integrating into my community. All these traditions of community gathering is what makes it fun for everyone. There is power in knowing that it isn't only you who has a headache, is sleepy, hungry, and thirsty or feeling a little faint. Every person around you is experiencing the same thing. 

To Muslims being able to fast is a great privilege, it shows strength, self-discipline and faith in Allah. 

I have been fasting since Ramadan started which in Indonesia began on Wednesday, July 10th and will go until August 10th. The last week of Ramadan is Idul Fitri when everyone returns to their hometown and celebrates together, it's almost like a family reunion at Christmas. 

I have to admit though, that because I am new to fasting and to Ramadan I have my share of feelings. I'm not sure if it's solely Ramadan or if it's coupled with my first months at permanent site, in a new community and still transitioning to create relationships as well as a schedule. 

Breaking my sleep at 3am, every day just makes me more tired throughout the day, once I go back to sleep it's hard to find motivation to get up and go to school and I can't have coffee. Since everyone's fasting, classes are shorter, there are no extra-curricular activities yet and my day at school often ends by 11am and then I have 7 more hours left until we break fast. If I exercise it has to be later on in the day, so that I don't use all my energy. Everything is just much slower, it's that in between time of the day that's hard to get through and I'm trying to work on art projects but I'm having trouble finding inspiration. It's hard to settle in to the community because the community and my permanent schedule are still in transition for another month. I have to meet new people and put my best face forward in class for my students when I'm truly drained of energy, I'm not sure I remember the last time I truly felt myself here and it really is a test of patience for me as well, when so many things we as Americans would consider rude are normal here and it's just something you have to get used to. At the end of the day, I'm the foreigner in their community, I'm the weird one, the outsider. 

So, why continue fasting? Some days I ask myself the same thing, but it's that moment at the end of the day when I'm riding my bike down the main road, trailed by the children who live across the street all on the way to the railroad. The streets go from being empty to full of bikes and motorcycles with people going to buy food to eat for dinner. When we come home, there's a hot meal waiting for us on the table and everyone sits down and eats together amongst the alarms and the call to prayer. We sit on the floor and watch TV and my host mother tells me a story or my host sister and I play some board games or we all do our own thing in each other's company. Even though I'm still breaking into my community, at least I know I have a family and live among neighbors who love me. In time, throughout the 2 years I'm here hopefully the same can be said for the rest of my village.