Ramadan is over and life is back to normal!

Hi all!

So Ramadan lasted from mid-August to mid-September this year, and I was present for half of it (went home to help take care of my mom after her shoulder surgery for the other half!). I am consistently amazed by the ability of Muslims - those who would consider themselves very practicing and those who may be more like "cafeteria Catholics" - to fast all day. This means no eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset.

I attempted to ease into the fast, which I thought wouldn't be too formidable of a task since I did fast for two or three days during last year's Ramadan. I "eased" into it by doing a 'half-fast,' drinking water during the day (though sparingly in general) and eating only before sun-up and after sundown. This meant that, like all of my neighbors, I would rise around 3:45 AM and take the "sehour," or the morning meal, which normally consisted (for me) of bread and cheese, fruit and yogurt. Then I wouldn't eat until about 7 PM, when the call to prayer rose from the minaret of the mosque near my house and the canon, announcing the breaking of the fast, blasted loudly from downtown Tunis. The first two days were pretty darn difficult, and my whole body ached and felt fatigued. It got easier though, as many Tunisians assured me it would. Unfortunately though, my fast couldn't continue: the change proved too drastic for my body to handle, and so after numerous visits to the pharmacy, I quit the fast after a week. Perhaps a less drastic "easing into" of the fasting schedule may have allowed me to actually fast for the time I was there, eventually even giving up water.

Why fast? Because fasting is a religious experiences. The Saints fasted; Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu mystics fasted. Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin advised fasting. And especially because some of my Tunisian friends tell me that they feel they reach spiritual heights during the month of Ramadan, which is largely spent in prayer, with family, in food preparation, and in contemplation of how much something so basic can mean when you don't have it.

InshAllah next year. But Easter will come first.