1 septembre 2011
Ramadan....was sadly uneventful. I fasted for a total of 6 days, which isn't much compared to the feats of other people in the village, but I was proud that I attempted it just to see if it was physically possible for me. On the morning of Ramadan, I was supposed to go to "the hill" in village with some friends to watch the large prayer around 9/10 in the morn. But it started raining, so they ended up doing a shortened-version of the prayer, and I missed it. Bummer. There's always next year...inshallah. So then I was at my house not doing anything so I went to the hospital. But no one had come to work due to the holiday, so I just hung out at my supervisor's house and chilled with the kiddos (fave past time). In the afternoon there was a soccer game between the men of the village and "elites", or men native to the village who have since found work and moved to the city of Ngaoundere. I watched the game with my supervisor and then went back to their house for din. There was some dancing and "fete-ing" in the evening, but I didn't feel up to it, so I went to bed pretty early. At 4 am I woke up randomly and could still hear the music blaring from the party at the chief's house.
A tradition at Ramadan is to buy and wear new clothes. The adults sport their new look to the morning prayer and the children wear the new attire (complete with new braids and henna for girls and hair cut for boys) all day long and just walk around showing it off and acting like they are "kindof big deals".
The Ramadan date depends on the lunar calendar. In the days leading up to the holiday, everyone knows that it's coming but never knows the actual date. It's not until the night before that people are informed it will be the following day. Also, 40 days after Ramadan, the Tabaski holiday will take place here.
Also, people aren't supposed to get married during Ramadan. So, naturally, the day right after the holiday, there were two marriages (that I know of) here in village. People also aren't supposed to drink during the month leading up to R-dan that they're fasting. So, yes, the evening of dancing I'm sure would have been eventful had I been up for it.
Another little tradition is that kids (in their hot new outfits) walk around the village and say "Barka da salla" to adults. It means Happy Holiday! And when they do that, adults are supposed to say "Salla da goro" and give them a goro, which I was told by someone is a kola nut but another person told me it's just a candy. So it seems to me that Ramadan is a mix between Christmas and Halloween with the presents and walking-around-candy-giving tradition.
So ya, Ramadan came and went, pretty uneventful for me, but everyone in village seemed happy about it. Barka da salla!
Ramadan....was sadly uneventful. I fasted for a total of 6 days, which isn't much compared to the feats of other people in the village, but I was proud that I attempted it just to see if it was physically possible for me. On the morning of Ramadan, I was supposed to go to "the hill" in village with some friends to watch the large prayer around 9/10 in the morn. But it started raining, so they ended up doing a shortened-version of the prayer, and I missed it. Bummer. There's always next year...inshallah. So then I was at my house not doing anything so I went to the hospital. But no one had come to work due to the holiday, so I just hung out at my supervisor's house and chilled with the kiddos (fave past time). In the afternoon there was a soccer game between the men of the village and "elites", or men native to the village who have since found work and moved to the city of Ngaoundere. I watched the game with my supervisor and then went back to their house for din. There was some dancing and "fete-ing" in the evening, but I didn't feel up to it, so I went to bed pretty early. At 4 am I woke up randomly and could still hear the music blaring from the party at the chief's house.
A tradition at Ramadan is to buy and wear new clothes. The adults sport their new look to the morning prayer and the children wear the new attire (complete with new braids and henna for girls and hair cut for boys) all day long and just walk around showing it off and acting like they are "kindof big deals".
The Ramadan date depends on the lunar calendar. In the days leading up to the holiday, everyone knows that it's coming but never knows the actual date. It's not until the night before that people are informed it will be the following day. Also, 40 days after Ramadan, the Tabaski holiday will take place here.
Children in front of my house, all decked out for the celebration
Another little tradition is that kids (in their hot new outfits) walk around the village and say "Barka da salla" to adults. It means Happy Holiday! And when they do that, adults are supposed to say "Salla da goro" and give them a goro, which I was told by someone is a kola nut but another person told me it's just a candy. So it seems to me that Ramadan is a mix between Christmas and Halloween with the presents and walking-around-candy-giving tradition.
So ya, Ramadan came and went, pretty uneventful for me, but everyone in village seemed happy about it. Barka da salla!
No comments:
Post a Comment