Ramadan

Wow! Ramadan went really fast! Today was the “fete” as determined by the sighting of the 10th new moon of the year. Someone in Mecca (Saudi Arabia) makes the call and towards the end of Ramadan, everyone speculates when the “fete” will be. You never know until the night before, when the guy in Mecca announces it.

The streets of Bol were filled with people out visiting friends and family in their new Ramadan outfits. Everyone gets a new outfit for Ramadan. Even the wild boys had new untattered digs, though they were still remarkable dirty. On my way to Kaka’s, I encountered a troop of about 8 men in pastel colored “boubous” with turbans covering all but their eyes. They looked bizarrely Easter-y. Kaka wore a pretty new prayer robe and AlHadj, her husband had on the grandest of his “grands boubous”. Yaqub had a stomach bug all of yesterday, and today he just lay in Kaka’s arms and whimpered. Party pooper. Moussa, their 7 year old, was thrilled with the little foam plane I gave him (which I received in an enormous box of colorful plastic toys sent by my Aunt Kathy for the children of Bol). There was a stream of people in and out and there were a whole lot of “Mabruk al-eid!”s (happy fete!) flying around. Dates, cookies, stomach and liver in sauce and tea were plentiful and the Kaka visit combined with the visit to Mary’s (Zuella and Nasiru are Muslim), combined with the goodies at home made my stomach feel quite Thanksgiving-y full.

There wasn’t really any special meal, but rather there were these snacks for people to eat as they visited each house. Children come around and trick or treat for candy. When the first group came, I made the mistake of bringing out the whole sack of bubble gum. When I gave them each one piece, they looked at me like, “Are you kidding? Nasara? Fork it over!” Even after I said “Nope, only one each. Go home.” They continued to stare me down and I was afraid I’d have a sit in (sit out in this case) on my hands. Finally, this sweet little Arab girl who lives up the road called ‘em off and they backed down. I had a policy of one piece for kids I didn’t know and 2+ pieces for kids I know and like. I bought a case of soda for the family, fabric for Maman and little gifts for Achta and Bebe and the boys of the house.

It is now my 9:00 bedtime (give me a break, I get up with the sunrise. Plus, it’s hard to be a night owl when all you’ve got it a kerosene lamp) so I’ll say, “Mabrjuk al-eid to all and to all a good night!”