Tuesday, March 12, 2024
This week will not be quite the pressure cooker that it was last week. Last week, it did not seem like we would have a chance to catch our breath, but we did make it through. This week, we start most of our sessions at 9 am instead of 8 am. Monday, half of us went to the bank to set up our bank accounts at 9 am and we didn't have anything else until after lunch. Tuesday, the rest of our group went, so Thom and I didn't start until 12:30 pm. Along with our getting bank accounts on Monday, we also got our registration forms from the municipal government. We are official now.
On Wednesday and Thursday, we will have other training and will not have language classes. On Friday, we will go to the farmers' market to negotiate for vegetables in Albanian. We will get 5 extra euros for shopping. We will have 4 1/2 hours of language class on Saturday.
Ramadan started Monday morning. Sometime before 4:16 am, our family got up to eat Suhur. Suhur is the morning meal that is eaten to hold the family over until the fast ends. Iftar, the evening meal to break the fast, was at 5:45 pm on Monday. This changes by a minute or two each evening. Tuesday, it was at 5:47 pm. Fasting during the day seems quite challenging, but our family makes it seem like it is a good experience for them.
Unfortunately, both of the kids seem to have colds. Amar was really struggling last night, as he also got his braces tightened during the day. His mouth hurt and he could not eat dinner. He went to bed really early. I think that it is hard to fast when you are not feeling well.
On Saturday, when we went on our hike, we had to have a local resident with us. Peace Corps has a rule during training that we must have a local with us if we leave Kamenice. One of the host sisters of one of the other volunteers, went with us. She told us that Ramadan is a cleansing experience to purify yourself. She said we would be welcomed to a service at a mosque sometime. Abnora is the language teacher for my class. She is happy to answer our questions about Ramadan. She told us today, that some people will stay up late and eat right before bed. They choose not to get up at 4 am to eat. They will just be fasting longer.
While mosques were quite prevalent as we drove through Prishtina and were seen in every town and city we rode through on our ride from Prishtina to Kamenice, the Kosovar people we have met are fairly low keyed about their religion. They practice their faith quietly and are happy to answer questions about their practice of Ramadan, if you ask them. The 15 year old boy in our family reads Arabic and was reading the Koran one evening. He shared with us the schedule for Ramadan. The family does not drink alcohol and pork is not served. In an attempt to become better educated, I found an article entitled "Ramadan in Kosovo, Religion and Identity". This article talks about the role Islam plays in Kosovo as the navigate their way towards joining the European Union.
There are two mosques in Kamenice. On Sunday, we walked to the other, larger one that is further from our home. It was very nice. I believe they are in the process of remodeling and enlarging the one mosque that is closer to us. We walk by each day. We noticed a sign with information about the remodeling plan as we walked by on Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment