Day 1 - and we're off and Ramadaning!

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Tuesday - day one

I woke up at 1pm and my first thought was 'hey only about 6 hours to go'. Am I going to be constantly wishing the time away? This was an unconscious thought! Zak is still asleep in the salon and did not stir until closer to 2.

As I look out the window all looks normal in the street. Today is souk day and there are the normal stalls set up down on the foot path selling their wares.

There is a very strong smell of harira soup in the air and this just happens to be a soup I really like and enjoyed every day in the colder months last year. It's made from lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes and a good dose of spices. It will be torture if I have to endure this aroma all day! This is one of the main foods eaten to break the fast so no doubt in houses everywhere this is being prepared - hence the strong aroma.

Let me tell you a bit of a low down of what took place last night. Yesterday as usual we were sitting in the cafe and Zak advised we would be eating as late as possible tonight as the fasting was going to start the next morning. This was all good, the last few weeks we have sort of been leading up to this as we have been having dinner usually sometime after midnight - this was also due to the heat of the day pushing everything a few hours later into the night.

We ended up eating around 1am and then I was determined to stay up as late as possible to endeavour to be able to sleep in as long as possible the next day. This was pretty easy with the aid of the idiot box.

Around 3.30 am there was the first call announcing that in half an hour Ramadan would start. Then again at 3.45 am another call to announce that it would start in 15 minutes. Then at exactly 4.04 am it had begun!!! For us this was a signal to go to bed and sleep. Separately, of course, as there will be no 'slap and tickle' or ANY physical contact whatsoever during the fasting hours. Absolutely nothing!! Even to the extent of when passing objects they must be placed down and not passed directly from hand to hand. There's a minute chance our hands might touch and that is too tempting and someone might have impure thoughts. Shit this is going to be harder than I expected!! You know when you're told you can't have something or are told you can't do something you want to do it all the more!? I was granted the comfort of the the bedroom with the double bed and Zak chose to sleep in the salon, well out of harms way. I soon fell asleep my mind racing with impure thoughts!! Hey, I couldn't control them!!!!

It's now 4pm and it's been a pretty usual day for me really. Besides the fact that Zak did not go out and get the fresh yoghurt and crispy patisserie that I indulge in for breakfast every morning. My days are usually spent inside (as it's too hot to venture out) so not much has changed there. I don't particularly feel hungry (although I can still smell that yummy soup) and I have decided I will take water if I feel the need. I'm not going to be stupid about this whole fasting thing, I decided I can do without the food sure, but will drink just water if I feel the need.
Zak has been napping out in the salon and seems to be keeping to himself.
4.10pm and the Dhuhr (Mid-day prayer) is amplifying out of the mosque minaret.

Zak just awoke and pointed out that today is a lot cooler than the previous days for the last few weeks have been. He justified this by saying 'God made today cooler for the first day of Ramadan to make it a easier start for everyone'. I tried not to roll my eyes. I then pointed out he was having a particularly bad hair day and that his God was responsible for this also. Oops, bad remark. I have to admit it is much cooler today.

Zak has now gone out to see what is happening around the town. Only change for me is no kiss goodbye, no contact! not even an air kiss! -no impure thoughts.

The next call will be Maghrib (Sunset prayer) which will be at about 7.30 pm. We are going to Zak's parents for the fast-breaking meal known as Iftar.

6.00 pm have a slight headache, but with only an hour and a half to go I think I can make it. Minutes later I hear a scuffle outside on the street and when I look outside there seems to be a crowd of people watching a heated argument. I bit of pushing and shoving and raised voices, then it's over. Day one and tempers are already wearing thin.

Just before 7 we start walking to the new city to Zak's parents house, it's about a 15 minute walk. The streets are packed with people milling around or heading home for Iftar. A lot of the cafes here are open and many of the tables have men seated at them but the tables are empty. There will be no service at any of these until after the call to break the fast.

The non contact thing obviously did not apply to Zak's brother and father who both greeted me in the usual way with a hand shake, and mother with cheek kisses. The family are impressed that I have participated in the fast today and before long the food is started to be loaded on to the table.

Iftar meal consists of: dates, boiled eggs, bread, olives, tiny savoury buns (home made), Ramadan sweets (which are pastry/dough which is firstly deep fried in hot oil and then covered in honey - tastes like a sweet/oily biscuit) and a concoction of ground up nuts and sesame seeds with is eaten with a spoon.

7.30 pm we hear the Maghrib which informs everyone it's time to break the fast and eat!
I follow suit when the first thing everyone reaches for is the dates. Father gives me the nod as I choose a plump looking specimen from the plate. He takes just one, then moves to the corner of the room and proceeds to perform his prayers. Meanwhile the rest of the family start to dig in and eat. I really wanted to have a drink and just quench a bit of my thirst and hopefully put my slightly increasing headache to rest.
After a few minutes Father rejoins us at the table and I notice he necks a bottle of water and gulps down and good half liter of water. For the next hour the family sits around the table and slowly eats the goodies on offer. I do notice that they mainly go for the sweet things, where I was into the boiled egg with bread and the savoury pizza like buns. Water, fruit juice and milk were drunk with the meal. I had eaten my fill when suddenly a huge bowl of soup was placed in front of me. Of course, the harira I had been smelling all day, how could I have forgotten that was still to come, and obviously eaten at the end of the meal. It smelt so good and even though I had already eaten my fill I finished my bowl of soup with everyone else. Now I was full to bursting!!

I suppose my stomach had shrunk down a little during the day after having nothing in it, as I did not think I had eaten a huge quantity. I felt a little woozie after having the first sustenance of the day.

Zak's brother Yousef drove us back up to the center, dropping Father off at the main mosque for the last prays of the day. The cafes were now all open for business and it was time for my first coffee of the day! I utterly enjoyed it and wonder if the lack of caffeine was the cause of my still annoying headache. It was now about 9.30pm and I decided to head back home to take a pill to aid in my now painful thumping headache. The waiter at the cafe said this was a normal reaction and a lot of people got headaches the first day.
Anyway I went home, had a pill and fell asleep only to be woken an hour later by Zak phoning me to see where I was. My head seemed fine so I headed back to the center where I met Zak and we went for a walk around the town. It was now almost 11pm and the streets were packed with now fed people who seemed in a jolly mood.

We walked around for about an hour taking in the ambiance and stopped at a shop in the new city to have riab (my usual morning yoghurt) before heading home. All the street shops are still open this late now because people were out buying food for the nights meal. We stopped an bought some turkey breast (very cheap here) which Zak cooked up later on for our main meal.

Again I took the option of watching TV until late so that I would be able to sleep late.
Again at 3.30 am ad 3.45am were the warning calls that the fasting was about to start again at 4 am. So we had a quick fruit shake - a meal in itself it was so thick with fruit, and I drank down as much water as I could hold. I managed to get a quick kiss from Zak before he showered (Ramadan requires you to wash off the indulgence of the breaking of the fast) before Fajr the first call was sounded.

Well I think I managed to survive the first day of fasting. Pretty easy when you don't actually have to do anything, it must be a different story for people who have to go to work and I'm sure a real effort for them. Especially the ones that work in stores selling food.

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Photos

harira soup
lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes and heaps of spices

Comments

[Marcia jinks]

You impress me!! But you worry me...next the burqa...good luck Cindy and yes the family would be impressed.

[IveBeenThere]

haha no burqua for me
don't worry I am not turning to Islam, I just thought since I am living here I should try to experience every part at least once. so far it's pretty easy cause I do nothing anyway. Maybe if I had a more strenuous lifestyle here I would be struggling. So far, so good.