Ramadhan

"I like "multi-"...multiplicity, multicultural, multiplication etc. Any contribution to diversification and value augmentation is achievement." --Rossana Condoleo

This month marks the celebration of Ramadan (or, Ramadhan, as spelled in Indonesian). As the world’s largest Muslim country, it is no surprise that Ramadhan is a huge deal here in Indonesia. Every morning around 2-3am, children roam the streets playing instruments and banging on drums to wake families up for their early-morning meal. Since the start of Ramadhan, I have woken up with my Ibu at 3am to eat breakfast—it has definitely been an experience. After eating, I usually go back to sleep, but my Ibu heads to the mosque for morning prayer.

Almost every day last week I tried to puasat (fast) to see what it is like, but I always failed—for the allure of food and drink always broke my resolve once lunch time rolled around. This week, however, I am going to try a water fast.

Last Friday, I went with some friends and their tutors to a pasar takjil (market) selling small, sweet snacks to buka puasat (break the fast). I eagerly bought some yummy treats, but saved them until the azhem (music) from the mosque signified the end of that day’s fast. After breaking the fast with the tutors, Andrea and I decided to split a box of mei goreng (fried noodles) for dinner—and we all went to a performance center to eat. This performance center has a traditional gamelon performance every Sunday evening, but because it was Friday, it was almost completely empty except for a few other people also eating dinner. We sat on top of the beautifully carved entrance to the center and watched the sun disappear behind the city landscape, listened to the sounds of the city, and saw the occasional set of fireworks exploded in the sky to celebrate Ramadhan. It was such a beautiful night, and I wish I could relive it over and over! After about 20 minutes, one of the tutors emerged from the crowd with 4 boxes of steaming catfish—but I thought they looked like squid. But hey, I might as well try a piece of it, and it was delicious! I never thought I would like cat fish (or icankucing, in Indonesian), but it was surprising enak (delicious). We sat on the steps of the performance center for a while, speaking in broken Indonesian and English and just enjoying being together. These are the kind of moments I wish I had more of in the United States: having no where to be, no schedule to keep me busy every second of the day, no one telling me the list of things I have to do—just sitting with people I care about and enjoying life together. It’s something I feel metropolitan areas of the United States have lost, or maybe it’s just me who feels this gaping void in their life—but whatever way it is, I hope to have more “Indonesian” moments after saya pulang ke Amerika (I return home to America).