Learning from the first days of Ramadan...

I just finished grading a speaking assignment for my students on the importance of sharing customs with other cultures. The topic has largely been focused on the holy month of Ramadan, and the traditions associated with the month. One thing, among many, which I love about my job is that I don't only teach but constantly learn from my students. 

Ramadan is a very big deal at work because a large majority of the population of our students is Muslim. Obviously intrigued, about three weeks ago I began rapid-firing questions to everyone at work about the concept of fasting at Ramadan. The reasons for the fast seemed incredibly admirable. Many of my students cited that they fast to remind them of the people who are starving and to practice discipline and self-control from all things, not just food and water. 

However, I didn't quite conceivably understand how someone could go a 14-hour day without allowing anything to pass their lips... no food, no water, nothing. Given the length of the days in the summer time and the heat of a Floridian sun, even an explanation didn't make much sense. To my students in my speaking class, I asked  "How do you stay awake? What do you eat in the morning? How much do you drink? How do you focus during the day when you're hungry? Don't your eyes get dry?"

http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/keeping-ramadan-fast-during-summer-heat-adds-to-challenge-1.1359517

Eventually, the questioning hit a point where no further explanation could be offered without trying. So, last Tuesday, I decided to learn from Ramadan the only way I could: by partaking in the fast myself. Wednesday morning, I woke up at 5:15am and drank four glasses of water and ate two yogurts. I went back to bed until my normal wake-up time an hour later. The day at work was fine, until about 3:00pm at which time my head began to ache and I had to take a "Ramadanap". I woke up around 5:00pm, went out to get some food from one of my favorite restaurants, graded papers, even did some painting. The last hour before the breakfast I didn't even feel hungry, just focused. Then, at 8:30, I finally, slowly broke the fast some more yogurt... and then some very non-traditional pho.

The four following days have been equally challenging. The second day I had an intense throbbing headache, presumably from the the low blood sugar and I lost focus. I made it clear that I was inconvenienced to my co-workers, which in hindsight was a mistake. Acknowledging the pain, acknowledging the inconvenience was self-serving, and because I have chosen to take this journey on my own, garnered no sympathy from anyone who I told my head hurt. So, I went home and dealt with the headache the only way I knew how: on my own, with quiet, without idle talk, just thought. Pushing through proved once again rewarding and it made me worry less about things which had been bothering me at work and in my personal life. I think, at this point, while obviously still in progress, the abstaining from indulgences is empowering with a level of understanding that had not previously deemed possible. 

This week in my speaking class, discuss the sharing of the practices of Ramadan. We read an article about the principles of Ramadan and discussed it as a class. The insight and open-mindedness of both students who practice and don't practice Islam has been staggering. Overall, both they and myself agree that it is a valuable way to learn about another culture and that the process goes far beyond fasting, that it will clean yourself and allow you to give love to all people without judgment.

How beautiful is that?