Last night was the second night of Ramadan and our house was quite a busy one. Two sisters of my mom came with their families- so a good 25 of us were huddle around the floor mat for dinner. Yup, we sit down on the ground to eat big meals together. Foods were oh my gosh delicious- chipati bread, chicken cutlass, apples, pears, grapes, sweet bananas, chicken biryani, green bananas in a spicy sauce, salad, garlic bread, milkshakes, and vimto. Her family is so nice, and it is fun to meet all of them again. After we totally stuffed ourselves- or at least felt unbelievably full- we all sat around and talked, watched tv, etc. Saw a bit of this cartoon show in Arabic- the characters look like Bedouin women- pretty funny to watch.
But watching tv soon turned into a brushing my hair session- which progressed into making me a Barbie and braiding my hair. I had some wicked half-cornrows until I slept on em. One of the girls talked me into telling a scary story and I eventually broke down. Told the ol' Bloody Finger story- quite hilarious since when I told the opening door part, someone actually opened the bedroom door. The kids flipped.
Today, after coming home from school (yup, school on a saturday) I helped my mom cook rice for 100 people! They take it to the mosque when the guys go to pray, since the mosque hands out free food during Ramadan. (1) Lots of ghee (2) Onions for a mob (3) Handfuls of spices: pepper, cardamom, cinnamon (4) Chicken Stock (5) Garlic and ginger (6) Buckets of water (7) Boil it all together like a soup (8) Add rice and let it cook!
I guess the hardest thing about Ramadan is not the fasting.... but the hijab. Since I have decided to fast, I have to wear the headscarf all the time- even at home. Comical for my US friends who havent seen me covered thus far. And my host family thinks I look so beautiful in it.. I have to admit, its kinda fun to experience wearing it full time. Makes me want to wear the whole shibang out in public just to see how people treat me in relation to how I normally dress.
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