Rama-do List

Ramadan starts today. ALHAMDULILLAH!

If I haven’t mentioned this fun fact already, 88% of Indonesia’s population practices Islam. It has the world’s largest Muslim population and is home to roughly 13% of the world’s Muslims. This will be my first time experiencing any Islamic holiday. Lucky for me, Ramadan is my first one! It starts Saturday, June 28 and ends Monday, July 28.

Last night, my family hosted a prayer group to prepare for the start of Ramadan. The prayer group was for men only. Therefore my ibu and I sat in the kitchen making soto ayam (my favorite Indonesian dish).  The prayer ended at 9pm, which is a fairly late hour for Panggul. I could barely keep my eyes open while I helped my ibu put away the dishes.

Today, everyone starts fasting. People wake up at 3am to eat and relax for the remainder of their day. They break the fast every evening around 6 or 7pm. Now this is a feast! My first Ramadan feast won’t start until tonight, so I’ll blog about the celebrations at a later date.

Indonesia is very calm during the month of Ramadan. Most people don’t exert a lot of energy because they are sleepy from fasting. What does this mean for Kruti the Peace Corps Volunteer? It means I have time. A lot of time. So much time that I don’t know what to do with myself. But luckily I’m a planner. I made a list of projects to keep me busy during the relaxed month of fasting that is Ramadan. I call it my “Rama-do list”.  Here it is:

1)   Catch up on emails that people have been sending me. Thanks again for all my friends and family for keeping up with my blog and reaching out to me!

2) Decorate my room with pictures, posters, and other fun stuff that came in my care package

3) Read the books on my to-read list (Catcher in the Rye; Eat, Pray, Love; A Tale of Two Cities; etc) 

4) Study for the GRE

5) Train for the ½ marathon on Mount Bromo (yup, that’s right. I’m running on an active volcano!)

6) Make a Peace Corps scrap book

7)  Watch Mahabharata- the jaw of every Indian just dropped when they realized how much time I have on my hands if I am able to finish Mahabharata during Ramadan 

I have many reasons why I’m not observing Ramadan. The main reason is that I’m training for a ½ marathon. I don’t want to faint in the middle of a morning jog. I will be fasting on rest days, however. I want to integrate with my family. Fasting when I am able to seems like the right path to take. I also don’t want to fast because I need a lot of water here. I drink almost a gallon a day. I am not used to this type of heat and I need to hydrate myself.

That’s all I can post about Ramadan as of now. It’s only the first day, but I’m sure I’ll have some fun tales to share later on this month. Also, if anyone would like to be my pen pal, please write to:

Kruti Patel SMA 1 Panggul

Jl. P. Sudirman

87 Bodag Panggul

Trenggalek 66364

Jawa Timur, Indonesia