Ramadan and Korite (part 1)

It’s Ramadan here in Senegal, as it is for Muslims around the world. A quick explanation for those who are not familiar, there are 5 pillars of Islam, that are followed by Muslims. One of these pillars is fasting for the month of Ramadan, which is based on a lunar calendar. You cannot swim, shower, smoke eat or drink during the day for the length of the month. This means breakfast is usually around 5:00- 5:45 and breaking the fast usually occurs around 7:15 at night. Dates are traditionally eaten to break the fast and in my family we then have milky sugary tea and bread, sometimes with a little salami, pate or something similar. It depends on the family, but in mine we then eat the real dinner 2 hours later at 9:30. Perhaps there will be a desert of fruit, but then it is a wait until breakfast and then it all starts again, for a whole month. Understandably, there is not as much going on during Ramadan, and at about 5pm everyone starts to get really grumpy, with naps being frequent and closed up shops the norm. When I fasted for just one day I was really surprised with how not difficult it was. I’m not going to say it was easy, because it wasn’t, especially when friends are sitting in front of you eating delicious mangoes or when everyone in the classroom has a glass of water in front of them. But for one day it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. The thirst was definitely much harder than anything else. My way of dealing with the discomfort, which is a common way of coping, is to take a nap. Once I was home from school, I slept until it was time too break the fast. My host family was extremely surprised that I fasted the whole day, especially without drinking any water. They kept on asking me in surprise, “You didn’t drink any water?!?!” Though it wasn’t too bad for one day, doing that for a month straight would be terrible. The next day I felt a like I was about to get a cold, and a little dehydrated. I would almost definitely get sick if I tried doing that for a month at a time. But there is a plus side to Ramadan- Korite. (kor-ri-tay) Korite is the celebration at the end of Ramadan. I don’t really know what it entails exactly, except for praying and eating, but there have certainly been American holidays based on less. Korite depends on whom and where the person is; given that it is based on the moon there can sometimes be different result of when it is announced. In all likelihood it will probably be this Wednesday. Afterwards I will probably have some more to tell you about it. Something to keep you waiting- I have a new boubou (Senegalese clothes) to wear for it. It’s going to be hilarious.