A Glimpse into Ramadan (for my American friends)

I stumbled onto this online and thought it gave some pretty good insight into what the month of Ramadan is actually about for many Muslims. I think a lot of Americans don’t really understand why Muslims fast for a whole month – it’s not necessarily about physical deprivation as a means to earn a place in Heaven (which I feel is the skewed perspective that most people get), it’s more about purification and refocus. I’m not Muslim, so maybe I’m stepping out of bounds by saying this, but from my experience here, I think there are quite a few Muslims who fast because they hope it will earn them points with Allah and they forget the true meaning of the month. But on the flip side, I have Muslim friends who truly LOVE this month and almost mourn when it ends because it is a time of forgiveness, a time of love, a time of peace.

Ramadan

I was thinking yesterday as I was riding my motorbike through town that me being in America feels like a dream, like I was never really there. It feels like I never left Indonesia.

Indonesia isn't a country that makes big changes in short amounts of time. I mean, the new toll road around town has been well under way since before I got here 3 years ago, and it's STILL not done.

Basically the only things that changed over the summer go as follows:

1. My apartment got a lot cleaner (thanks Ibu Sri).
2. A new cafe opened in town.
3. Aswan lost weight.
4. Fasting month approached.
5. The mosque down the street got a new - and incredibly loud - PA system.

Those last two - accompanied by jet lag - are absolutely slaying my sleep times. Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, actually started this morning. I was reminded of this when I got here last week (I forgot it was starting so early this year) and saw banners hanging all over town depicting a cartoon drawing of a baby Satan with an ever-so-inspirational slogan, "Don't let him grow up. Ramadan."

But the mosque... Oh, the mosque...

So during the fasting month, Muslims cannot eat or drink (the truly devout go so far as to not even swallow their own spit) from dawn until dusk. So they all wake up REALLY early to eat breakfast, then sunset brings with it a feast. In years past, in my kampung (neighborhood), the men take turns going down the street with a stick at 3:30 - 4 AM, banging gates and yelling "SAAAHHHHHUUUUUURRR!!! SAHUR!!!!" (Basically, "mealtime! mealtime!") to wake everyone up. After the first few days, I can sleep through that.

But the mosque... Oh, the mosque...

They got a guy with a totally made-for-radio voice to YELL and SCREAM through the brand spankin new PA system. And it wasn't just two seconds of "SAAHHUURRRRRR!!!" No, it was that, plus a welcome to Ramadan, the holy month, plus guidelines on what to eat at this time to maintain energy throughout the day, plus a bunch of other stuff that I couldn't understand on account of he was SCREAMING through an incredibly loud PA system with the volume jacked up as far as possible. That mosque isn't even the closest mosque to my house - there are 2 (maybe 3 - I've never measured) in the other direction that are closer than this one, but I COULDN'T EVEN HEAR THEM.

Really? Does nobody in this kampung own an alarm clock? Nobody??? Can we PLEASE go back to banging sticks on gates??

After that wonderful awakening, and once the neighbor's German Shepherd finally realized aliens weren't invading and shut up, I drifted back to sleep, only to be awaken about 5 minutes later to "ALLLLEEEHUUUUUU AKBAR....." Call to prayer.

So... yup, I've been up since 4:30. No hope for going back to sleep now. I did go to bed at 7 last night though, so there's a chance I'll be OK. But if I don't learn to sleep through this, it's gonna be a looong month.

Pensacola vs Bob Jones

Over the summer, we had some friends come visit us whose daughter just graduated and is planning on going to Pensacola Christian College down in Florida this fall. Now, like me, you might have just cringed. I mean, this school has a reputation as being a militaristic Christian cult. It is off the wall crazy with the rules. I asked said daughter about that, and she reassured me that the school is not at all like that and has loosened up in recent years. In fact, she claimed that Bob Jones wants nothing to do with Pensacola because they think Pensacola is TOO liberal! Whatttt?

So last night I did a little research. I couldn't find any current Pensacola rule books online, but based on pictures I saw on the website, it appears that they've loosened up on the dress code and the guy/girl interactions. When I got on Bob Jones' website, I did find their rule book. Nothing super surprising except for the following two rules that came together at the VERY end of the list of "Staying in the Residence Halls" expectations.

8. Residence hall students may not watch videos above a G rating when visiting homes in town and may not attend movie theaters.

9. All weapons brought to campus must be turned in for storage. Trigger locks are required for pistols.

Did anyone else laugh out loud when reading those two rules together? Or was it just me??

Back in Action

Well, 2 days and 5 airports later, I'm finally back at my house in Indo. I made it safely without any hangups at all along the way! Even my 50 minute layover in Tokyo was a breeze! Every flight took off on time (even the domestic Indonesian one - a MIRACLE) and arrived early, and my luggage made it intact. I even got to be with friends/coworkers on 2 flights!

Of course, I fell asleep at 6 o'clock last night, and now I'm wide awake at 3 AM, but we'll work on that. I've got 3 more days before I have to be anywhere.

Thanks to everyone for prayers!

How boyfriend fills his days.

Yesterday, boyfriend was searching for fish medicine. For a whole school of catfish with a skin (scale?) condition. He didn't find any, so he ended up renting them a whole pond in the hopes that the new location and clean water would expedite their recovery. Their owner will be relocating the school post haste.

Today, boyfriend is at a convent. When asked why he was going there, he simply replied, "The nuns make yogurt."

I don't know if I can handle all this spontaneity.