Eid Mubarak....or the end of Ramadan

The feeling of accomplishment, kind of pride and relief....the mixture of feelings in me about the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

I did it, I did fast till the very end, without breaking it for even a single time. From having it very hard, through the feelings of enjoying and getting it as usually, till the last very boring days (when everybody was just waiting for the end of the month) I did it. And I don't regret I took this choice.

I had the opportunity to see people here differently and to live something with them what is very much only them and very much not understood in the western world. Also I think I had the opportunity to better understand the Christian Easter and the meaning of resurrection. (Do you know how does it feel to have a normal breakfast in normal breakfast time after a month of not seeing food at daylight??? - This is resurrection :P) And also that if I could manage to do everything I wanted during this months, then what I'm really capable of doing on a normal month? And when I feel that even the first half normal nightsleep (and only 6 hours) how much energy it gave, you kinda get the feeling of "being back online".

Pretty hard to compile the experience of Ramadan into a few lines, so I just want to highlight one point concerning this month: we do not understand it! Before coming here I also studied about Islam, kind of had an idea of what Ramadan means...officially. And also had the impression of having the Arab world dead and that is it.

It is true they are dead, not many things are working....and I'm not saying it should be like that, but how the hell does Europe judge it so harshly when most people does not even know when it is? (I also did not know before). This is some sort of eye opening thing of how many topics we have no idea about, but we judge it in a very determined way.

Now I kind of also understand why it hurts muslims that much the Dannish cartoons about prophet Mohammed. Why you make fun of something what the society does not understand, or rather has no real information about besides the media (khmm, European media).

This idea can be generalized to many things, not just Islam. Many Europeans say that we are so open minded, but isn't it some sort of cover for the feeling of being more than others? Honestly, I don't know. Don't want to judge other countries, don't know how much they really know about the "mysterious" parts of the world, but it kind of made me understand why people are angry about a few things what the 'enlightened' part of the world is doing.....kind of being enlightened and that is why being sometimes narrow minded.

Don't want to go into politics and such, makes no sense. It is the time to enjoy Eid and the holidays :) Even if it is a very family oriented holiday (meaning that on the first day evening everyone is visiting family, so I'm left at home - time to sleep, hehe). But generally things are nice and I love the opportunity to rest a bit and just enjoy being in the country.

September - the bit boring side of Ramadan

Written on the 19th of September

It's been a while since I wrote...my internet totally died at home and besides this I was somehow always forgeting that I can always write offline and then when I can go online I just need two minutes...but things are changing and in the weekend a slowed down lifestyle kind of help you realise these small things.

After the bit sidetracked introduction let's see what was happening during this week. Well, not much :P this is the first thing coming to my mind, but looking a bit deeper into memories I do find some interesting points. But this is also a pretty funny sign of getting used to things (also to Ramadan way of living). In itself it is something interesting to feel, just simply getting along in your normal life (what is now considered as normal).

One thing definitely worth to mention is Suhoor. It is the breakfast (meaning somewhere between 2-4:30 am :P) right before sunrise (the last point to eat and drink during the night).

Particularly 2 of these Suhoors (yeah, a usually story of waking up at 4 am, brainless to put something in your mouth). We went with a few guys to have Suhoor at Hashem. Hashem is a restaurant (actually 2, one of them in the downtown, and the new one closer to my place). Around a week ago we were just hanging our after Iftar (Dinner) and came the idea to have Suhoor together in Hashem, the downtown one. What you need to know about Hashem, that visiting (especially the one in downtown) is a cultural shock in itself. It is a very traditional restaurant, as far as I know the first restaurant in Amman....and it does look old and ruined :) It is taking a small street in downtown, Health inspectors from Europe would for sure totally freak out from having a look on it, but in reality the food is clean and is made in a clean way. And the food is just simply awesome. Not a big variety, as you can only get falafel with hummus or fool...and that is it :P But it does have the best taste in the city a special and cool one. But seeing around 100 people totally flooding even the street, full with table, engaged into conversation and totally alive in this very early hour. And it is just an atmosphere you can not really describe. You just simply need to feel it. And also it is different to be part of it when you are also fasting. It is just that feeling that you are not a tourist, you are as much the same as you can be (yeah, my skin and origin still will not and should not change). It is a remarkable experience. Something will be burned into my memories.

Besides this work is also going on...moving pretty ok, now that I have a bit of time not to be a simple accountant, but actually lead something. And this feeling is energizing me, coz I do feel I give direction and make things move, which is good. I don't really want to go into more details, not because it is not interesting, or not because I want to hide something, just simply it is a lot to tell and I don't think that daily work will be something to be remembered. I love doing my job, will stay like this (inshallah), but it should stay as my job :) (well another true sign of what next steps to be taken after this term).

For the next time I will try and figure out some interesting story, but that is also true that during Ramadan not many things are happening....it is becoming after a while boring, truly, might not be something nice to say, but it does become. I think people just get tired of fasting, it is draining you every day, make the whole month going veeery slow...and you just get stuck in the routine and wait the end of it, not because it is bad, but it is slow. And this is it, things will change, though I don't mind these things, it is 10 last days remaining, and it is not a counting back (well, honestly in a way it is). It is a good, or would say a great experience to have...just after a while boring.

But I'm pretty much looking forward to Eid, I'm just curious how things will change, because if I can manage everything while fasting how energized I will be with being back to the normal routine, so I just want the new things to come, I'm actually looking for changes, for the adventure :)

Oh, and I'm also going to Germany, to Karlsruhe to chair a conference, which I consider as a great honor to be invited as a chair for any kind of conference! it is something totally excited and also my team is very excited because of this, they want me to go as a Jordanian chair, not as a Hungarian, so they are already planning out my preparation, and I'm also building these kind of plans on what to do over there. So looking forward to it (though I don't know more details, than that I will be going in the end of October, beginning of november :P so will see what is going to happen :))

This is mostly all popping up to my mind. It became a bit random post, but whatsoever, if you fought through to this point then it means you found something in it (or just your simple peristance that by the end there must be something brought you till here :P )

Hey....this article gives a piece of insight into Ramadan:

Here you find the full article:

http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=10702

And some paragraphs from it:

"AMMAN - While millions gather with their families at sunset for iftar this Ramadan, many citizens are left with few options when it comes time to break the daylong fast.

Their answer comes in the form of iftar tents, spread across the Kingdom, providing free meals for the underprivileged and the scores of taxi drivers, sanitation workers, grocers and even business professionals who are forced to work in the evening hours.

Some tents are hosted by members of the Royal family, such as Her Majesty Queen Rania’s Hal Hilalak tent for underprivileged children, while others are sponsored by municipalities and even embassies.

Others come under private sector corporate responsibility programmes, as major banks, telecommunication companies and even electronic stores erect tents and open their doors to the have-nots and passersby."

"Mohammad, a 27-year-old worker at the Sheikh Hazaa tent, said he doesn’t mind volunteering and sacrificing time with his family to feed the less fortunate.

“It feels nice to give back and help. This time last year, I was one of them,” he said, gesturing to the dozens of citizen lining up for a warm meal."

"With the long-awaited call to prayer, conversation comes to halt, as attention is drawn to plates of dates, cups of water, and bowels of rice, yoghurt and meat, leaving little time for words.

After a few minutes of eating, the tents come back to life, jokes and laughter echo through the tents and people move on to their dessert."

Ramadan streamline

Yeah, and the next set of things regarding this whole fuss around Ramadan. The thing is that there is a lot to tell about this month. It is very complex, intense and definitely not easy to understand. That's why I'm gald I decided to experience it, way different approach, way different journey.

I promised to write about how people behave or change. Unfortunately I can not tell it is all bright, but summing up everything it is still mostly a positive change. The confusion around what is positive what is normal, what is not is probably coming from my understanding on what Ramadan means.

I was talking to people before and during this week so that I can understand a bit what is this month intending to tell us. Most of them told it is a month (besides the religious points) to feel close to poor people, who are starving mostly. For me it is then a challenge to maintain a kind of normal life while fasting. Though I don't always see this approach. The country slows down, people use Ramadan as an excuse of not doing their job (while I probably had one of my most productive week - I have the choice to totally focus on my work or focus on my stomach....work is easier :P ). And for a while I was thinking that the problem is with me, coz I thought that poor people starve, but still doing what needs to be done, so why should we act differently if we want to feel close to them. It turned out that it is not only me who thinks like this, a few people who I talked to thinks the same and I also found a very intersting article about it, here is the link to it:
http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=10515

The question is am I feeling close to the poor. Honestly I don't know, but this month teaches me to highly value the basics what I have...like the bottom of the Maslow pyramid, to value to have water to drink. And also there is this commonly used saying noone really takes into consideration: you are not rich because of money, but because of the people around you. And it is pretty weird, but this statement is very true. Why? the explanation is simple. When I was just writing down that I don't know if I feel close to the poor the thought came to my mind that I actually don't feel poor (well, I'm still not having much of money, despite the fact that since the last conference people started to call me Vice President of Money :P). And the next thought also came naturally (without any push), saying that I'm not poor (or rather not lost) coz I have a lot of people around who can help with a single SMS, or phone call...or just dropping me home after Eftar. And I think this is the very positive side of how people change during Ramadan.

Ramadan Kareem, meaning Generous Ramadan. In my first post about Ramadan I said that I don't really understand why Ramadan is Generous. But now I do. It is not the month, but the people because I just simply experienced that level of generousity I have never seen in my life, coz it is not just coming from one person, but when you feel it every corner, in every person. Just counting that I did not have Eftar so far alone, I always had more people around, being invited and I also feel the sense to invite people (and I actually did invite my team for Saturday) not for the sake of giving back, just the why not type of reasoning.
People open up and become closer to each other. You all share the pain and seeing that small sparkle in their eyes when they realize that I'm fasting with them changes a lot....you somehow become one of them, or they try to make you become one of them and integrate you in as many things as possible. It is a very powerful feeling and I don't really have the words to describe it, it is something which makes my experience uniqe, because this is something you truly can not get from books.

And Ramadan is also a pretty good month for reflection. It is only one week passed and I feel this mood all over the place. It is just easier to think and reflect, but I don't understand why. I don't really have to understand it, just use it wisely, it might be something not coming back, coz you are in this mood now together with many people, resulting in awesome discussions. Like today we had with a few friends (Wesam, Eyad, Sasha and for a part Abeer)...a very good and I believe deep dicussion about a lot of topics, which was just simply good to be part of and exchange views on them.

I truly wish everyone to experience Ramadan once, in an Arab country, to feel the whole spirit. My next post will be about Eftar and some specially Ramadan habits and I will keep writing about things, coz I believe I have a unique chance to spread the word even to that few people who are reading my posts, to at least attempt to pass something from a thing I did not understand and not many people understands who has not been part of it.

With full confidence:

Ramadan Kareem!

A foreigners stories during Ramadan, edition 2

So again Ramadan Kareem to everyone (meaning generous Ramadan....so I have no idea why they are using it, but why not :P) even to our cosmopolitan Karuna :P
(yeah, I'm reading comments and I appreciate each one of them!!! So keep on commenting).

This week turned out to be passing muuuuch slower than usual weeks did in the past three months. But in terms of things to consider it's been a busy week. Fasting for the first day was actually horrible, I was only not whining in order not to loose face (as only foreigners complain and I also approached Ramadan as a way of integration). Eftar was actually a relief on the first day (Eftar or Ftur is the dinner during Ramadan...dinner or THE meal - and the time to drink water and everything your find, hehe, again).

So I honestly started to think on what to change. Quiting was not an option (anyone who knows me also knows why it was not an option....simply I'm too proud sometimes to give it up, or you can also call it stubborn :P). So I rather tried to remember some practices from my era of active sports (that around 12 years of Kung-Fu) on how to handle high physical pressure, drop of blood sugar, lack of liquid. Well, old practices are not bad practices, so they are still working. And also the principle: if your physical stress times change, change your routine - has helped me. So after the first day of battle I became more conscious of how to handle the situation and it is working, the last two days are totally ok...I'm not meaning awesome, but definitely giving me the chance to enjoy, not just survive Ramadan. I don't know how much time now I have to write the blog post, so for sure now I give you a snapshot of my daily routine what I developed...and if not now then in the next posts I will tell how is the experience and how people change during Ramadan (because they do change a looot!). So this is how a day looks like (focusing on keeping work productivity, work life balance, and healthy food and drinking :P ):

1. Waking up at 9:30 - not eating, but having a shower, which helps to wake up and handle the situation and start working at 10 am
2. Finish work at 4 pm - meanwhile I have normally meetings and as any normal working day
3. Have a sleep from 4-6 pm - you are just simply getting tired, not necesseraly feeling bad...you just feel your brain slowing down
4. Eftar/Ftur - 7 pm - eat, as you did not eat the whole day (because you did not :P )
5. Work again from 9-11 or 12 pm - just to keep up the 8/9 hours working day (or if I skip it for a hang out or something)
6. Eat a breakfast type fo meal at midnight
7. Sleep from midnight till 4 am
8. 4 AM waking up to eat and drink, before sunrise....this is rather the usual dinner size meal, with around 1 liter of water pushed down my throat
9. Sleep from 5-9:30

So as you see my principles were not to give up life as it would be normal, just with different routine. And definitely keep drinking at least 2 liters or more a day (night) and also to eat 3 normal meals daily (nightly :P). With this it became truly manageable...and I'm actaully now complaining less than locals, and not because of hiding it :P

And how is it, not just the routine building, but how people change, how an Eftar look like? Let's leave topics for the next post (and ensure that I keep my audience waiting for the next post, hahhahaaaa).

Ramadan Kareem!

Post written at 4 am, in the morning, on the first of September

So Ramadan has started....just right now. For me it started with an SMS from Oksana telling me to drink at least one liter of water (the first half a liter was easy...the secon half not, especially taking into account that some sort of food should also find place in my stomach at this very early hour).
To be pretty honest yet there is not much to write about Ramadan...will see after getting through the first week. For Sure it will be a unique experience. (meanwhile I hear the first prayer....tells me I don't know what exactly, but for sure meaning to eat faster if I want to have something in my stomach by the next one :P - but it is also amazing to hear the echo of this call for prayer, the city is half asleep, everyone in his/her home, but a bit alive to eat and drink - as in the next 12 hours it is forbidden for anyone fasting and highly discouraged to eat or drink in public to anyone else).
Ramadan (as I heard from the guys here) are about a few things, most of them fitting to my value set and way of thinking. They say that it is feeling close to the poor, by understanding what they are going through, it is also reconnecting yourself to your inside, and naturally to Allah. Well re-connecting (or connecting) to Allah is not really my way of approaching Ramadan as I am still not and never been religious, but the other two based on the stories are kind of making sense. Starving a bit for sure forces you to think about your own limits and actually how much you can stand. For Muslim people it might not be that powerful though, as they are "used to" having Ramadan, but as of myself it will be a true test of will power and self control (already pushing down this one liter of water needs a bit of will....and it is barely the beginning).

Also I'm pretty curious about Iftar (this is the "dinner" at the end of the day - after sunfall). We have been invited (with Sasha) to Oksana (or Abeer, but Oksana was faster :P) for the first Iftar. (being honest Oksana's Iftar as first Iftar is more attractive from the sense that she can help me as a foreigner, she fasted the first time last year). But it is also a month told not to be alone, will see, inshallah :P

I believe this is one of the advantages of living abroad...and adding up to be an AIESECer ever. Otherwise I don't think I would ever dare to fast. This is really the way when you can understand things. Like before this year I was thinking about Ramadan like a month when the Muslim world is kind of "out of service". And even if I would have seriously thought about it, it is already very not the same than talking to the guys and hearing what they think about Ramadan. The touch of it, the fact that it is happening around me and here in Jordan, with me makes it something way different than as it would be at any other corner of the world.....I shall see :)

Alsot the 1st of September is marking the first 3 months (wooo, already one quarter of a year :P ) passing by in my stay in Jordan. 10 more to go.
Considering the amount of things happening in these 3 months, only if it continues with less than half intensity, it will be a year which will lead me to no idea where exactly :P Seriously! I was thinking of a lot of things I want to see in myself being challenged and becoming stronger, or changing. And I'm already way ahead in the process.....very way ahead with things I have never expected. So I really don't know where it is ending up (if it ever ends :P)
Also in the last two weeks I kind of started to think about what is next after this term. It is not yet anything concrete as I have at least half a year more to decide what to do next, but the fact of getting this week 3 job offers made me think of it a bit. We will see, options are out there, I just need to pick my choice and go for it :P

Ok, it is time to go back to bed...wish me luck and power :P