The Mad-Hatter's Tea Party or Ramadan In A Muslim Country

It's a bit overdue, but RAMADAN KAREEM!

                                  

My Arabic & Pakistani Muslim friends told me for years how different it was to celebrate Ramadan in a Muslim country rather than a secular one like the States, and I was excited to see for myself. Indeed it has been different, and to my great pleasure somewhat easier to do. Back home, it was always a struggle to maintain my fast. Whether it was pressure from non-Muslim acquaintances who always seemed to want to have lunch only in August, couldn't understand why I wouldn't break it just this one time, or such things like my yearly summer illness, school, work, and etc. Here among a wholly Muslim community it has nearly been a cinch, despite the incredible dry heat and lack of A/C. It doesn't hurt either that for the first time in 8 years I find myself without a job or school at this time in the summer, and the first Ramadan completely uninhibited. However, now the challenge is finding things to DO, instead of finding the time. Time I have in abundance. With the heat keeping most people indoors all day, and for me no Jordanian license until I get permanent residency (I couldn't drive my in-laws car at any rate; its a stick shift) , no A/C, very little english channels on tv, my books back in storage with my parents, and blocked favorite webpages here, I find myself with so much free time I could puke. I usually end up sleeping! One can have too much sleep, I find.

Despite the dry heat, the cool nights more than make up for the time fasting. Iftar is always delicious and filling thanks to Momma Aicha, and the nightly walks Shadi and I take around his neighborhood are a singular delight. Its much like walking through my own hometown during a snow-less Christmas season, complete with oftentimes tacky lighting decor in honor of the celebration.

Pretty much all the lights resemble this one

There remains only 13 more days, or under 2 weeks, to this month of mercy, and I intend to get everything I can from it. To cap off the month, my wedding is the day after sanctioned Eid, and tonight after iftar and my cousins-in law showed up for a visit we got down to brass tacks. Invitations, arrangements, and etc are all on the table. (Apparently it takes a very short time, down to weeks in Jordan to plan a wedding and execute it unlike the year we take in the States. I guess it helps that all your relatives live in the same town and half of them don't have jobs they have to take off of). Its to be a short post tonight; I didn't get my usual amount of sleep post-suhoor and Shadi has already nodded off. So I leave you with images of Ramadan in Jordan. :)

A decorations vendor in Jordan

More lights!!

The main masjid in downtown Amman