It has begun! (as much as possible)

So I have started working, in a sense. That is, I have started doing the preparatory work that I need to do so I can begin my real work. More concretely, my primary job here is to be an environmental educator for young kids. My secondary job is to be a consultant for the community, basically to help with whatever I can. However, before I can do either of those two things I need to know the community in which I am working. So the first few months here will be spent learning about the community, what works well, what doesn’t work well, interviewing people about their needs, and beginning to plan things to do for both parts of my job. It has been tremendously good to have this work to do but it is a little difficult not knowing when I will be able to do something concrete. At the same time, I do not want to hurry through this process because it means the difference between me showing up in a village in another country and culture and doing the projects that I want and me actually helping a community address the needs it is facing. Of course, part of the slow pace of my work right now is entirely tied to the fact that it is Ramadan and no one is moving much. I’ve mentioned Ramadan a couple of times and since my knowledge of it wasn’t that great before coming here, perhaps I should explain what it is.

Ramadan is the Muslim holy month of fasting. Muslims don’t eat or drink anything from sunrise to sundown. You are also not supposed to think bad thoughts or of the opposite sex during the same time. The purpose of the month is to remind Muslims of their connection to Allah, that they are dependant on what Allah provides, and that they can control their desires. As an exercise, it’s pretty powerful. I fasted one day just to commiserate and to know the experience. Not eating wasn’t that difficult but not drinking anything was pretty tough. I basically didn’t move all day. It was that day that I discovered the wonders of napping in a hammock underneath a wet sheet, which is just about as close to air conditioning as I can get. The fun part about Ramadan is breaking fast. Everyone gathers around plates of food, flavored drinks, and tea a little before 7pm and waits for the prayer call to go off. They then eat a small snack, followed by a full on dinner an hour later and then another one at midnight. In the morning a guy walks around chanting to wake everyone up for a small breakfast before the sunrises. Add a lot of napping and praying and you have Ramadan.