Sunday, July 19, 2015

Ramadan III- An Airing of Grievances


Ramadan has ended. Coinciding with the next New moon and culminating in Idul Fitri, the blessed feast or festival.

As with the onset, there is some disparity about the end of Ramadan.  The government decreed it one day.  Another group decreed it the day after.  They issued a statement saying they meant no disrespect to the government astronomers, but how could they be sure they government observers got it right?  And, so they chose their own day.

The month actually went by really quick.  This is of course easy to say, I’m not fasting. It’s been interesting to watch from the outside.

There is spiritual reflection and quiet, but also a hustle and bustle like the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas as people buy new finery and gifts for their families back home in villages.  

Jakarta empties out in the week leading up to Idul Fitri.  They estimate 6-7 million people headed home this week.  The government provided free buses and trains to people.  The people who came to Jakarta are seen as worldly and wealthy and so are expected to bring in gifts from the big city.  Often they’ll return to the city with other family members who want the same chance at the big life and thus the city grows.  

This week, the city is quiet, quiet, quiet.  The three high-rises under construction down the way are dormant as are most places.  There is no 24 hour a day pounding and clanging.  Traffic has been a breeze!  My typical hour-long shuttle ride was just 15 minutes.  Very refreshing and very frustrating to realize how much time I’ve been spending in traffic in the last year.

With the big announcement there are parades and “convoys”  of flatbed trucks with mosques and loud speakers and drums.  The city erupts into a din of singing and speeches and fireworks for hours on end.  For a city with ⅓ of it’s population missing, there is an inordinate amount of noise.

With the exodus, so goes our house staff.  We’re remembering how to cook and take care of ourselves again. This is a good thing.  It makes us appreciate them more.  I texted them a “Selamat Idul Fitri” message.  "Happy festival."

Our Pembantu texted back "Mohon maaf Lahir dan Bathin" ...“Please forgive all my transgressions.’  

I thought this odd.  Maybe they’d been pilfering or they realized how much of my time they consume in the morning by buttoning up all my ironed shirts and now, one year on, it’s too awkward to say anything so we both button and unbutton needlessly.  




But, no.  This is the traditional greeting.  It is a time of atonement for the year’s past transgressions. Like at the Castanza household, there is an airing of grievances and apologies and forgiveness.


Seriously, what other blog will link a solemn holy month with a Seinfeld episode. You can read more about it here. https://youtu.be/c8g4Ztf7hIM




Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Ramadan II- The Exceptions to the Rules



We’re two and a half weeks into the month of fasting. I’ve learned some things.

There are exceptions to fasting. If you’re pregnant, you’re excused. If you’re sick or infirm, you’re excused.  If you’re a child, you’re supposed to be excused, but a lot of kids still fast.  Maybe it’s at the urging of their parents, so the parents aren’t tempted, or maybe the kids just want to go along.  



our office was planning a going away party a few weeks back and the issue of time came up.  With several Muslims in our office we didn’t want to schedule too early.  We’d need to wait until nearly 6 to begin.  We asked one of our staff if she minded starting a little earlier.  

“Oh, I won’t be fasting that day. I’m gonna be having my period.” She announced to the group.


That’s the other loop hole.  If women are menstruating, they’re excused. And apparently this co-worker is regular as well as, um, boundary-free. 

Several weeks on, I passed her in the break room and I asked how her fasting had been going.

“I woke up to good news, Doc! I got my period today.  I LOVE the color red! No fasting for me!” Did I mention boundary-free?




I led a smoking cessation group for local staff part way through the first week of the holy month.  It was all men.  I think that men are the predominant smokers here.  I went around the room. They all started around the age of 8 or 9.  All the marketing is geared toward kids.  Transformers and skateboarders are all linked to smoking here.

Anyway, the topic of nicotine patches came up.  They were curious, but also worried about putting something into their body during their fasts.. I asked if they could take medicine and they said that they could if they were sick.  I also asked if they were allowed to smoke during Ramadan.  “Well, we’re not really supposed to, but we can’t help it, plus we blow most of it back out.”  So I asked “what would Allah do?”

No, I didn’t.  Wanted to, but I didn’t.



Love Jannah


Cinetron is a national pastime here. It is the Indo version of the soap opera, but it comes on in the evening.  And all across the country people tune in.  If you see a road side hut or restaurant, you’ll see a bare lightbulb, a grainy black and white TV and a group huddled around watching the days drama unfold.  

I’d never really watched, but I’d flipped past off and on.  This month I noted more women on the shows wearing head scarves. I thought it was part of the story line, but a colleague told me that every year during Ramadan, the stories change from the usual “boy meets girl, girl stabs boy in back” stories to stories of peace and purity and other holy lessons.  All the characters dress more pure, too. 
Porridge Seller Goes on Haj

Then the day after Eid, it all switches back to the same old sordid tales. Apparently people can only be good for 28 days.







Sitting here in a hotel lobby bar in Surabaya, I asked the waitress how business had been.  She said it’s been swamped because it’s Ramadan and all the bars are closed, so no one can get alcohol.  “Everyone comes here to get a drink.”  

Apparently 28 days is too long.