1. Patience, not everything happens at the exact time you expect it to.
2. Pace yourself (you never know whats coming next)
3. Sit back and enjoy the show (you'll appreciate it a lot more that way)
and MOST IMPORTANTLY
4. NAP!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Lessons from an Event -- Lena
As those of you who have been following the blog may know, it is currently Ramadan. There are some interesting customs during Ramadan. The most obvious is the fasting; it lasts from sun up to sunset, which means most people are up for the 4:30 call to prayer, and immediately start cooking a giant feast for the breakfast, usually followed by a half day of school or work (its much too tiring to stay at work that whole time -- that, and many people in Jordan smoke, and if you've ever been around a smoker that can't smoke, you can understand the crankiness). And then an iftar at sunset, which is another giant feast. We've had the opportunity to attend an iftar, and we thoroughly enjoyed all of the food. This past week the YMWA (where Emily and I work), was sponsoring an event at the Four Seasons hotel. It was a fundraiser/promotional/thank you event for many of the donors at the school, without which the school couldn't survive. Since this event took place during Ramadan, it had to take place after the iftar, the iftar is approximately 7:05ish, and the event began at 9pm, and didn't end until well after midnight. It was a wonderful event, full of good food, excellent apricot juice, beautiful Arabic music, and good company (and all for a good cause!!!). Besides the wonderful memories created that night, I also learned some valuable lessons:
1. Patience, not everything happens at the exact time you expect it to.
2. Pace yourself (you never know whats coming next)
3. Sit back and enjoy the show (you'll appreciate it a lot more that way)
and MOST IMPORTANTLY
4. NAP!
1. Patience, not everything happens at the exact time you expect it to.
2. Pace yourself (you never know whats coming next)
3. Sit back and enjoy the show (you'll appreciate it a lot more that way)
and MOST IMPORTANTLY
4. NAP!
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1 comment:
So I was curious about the Ramadan - do you all &UYC) have to "observe" it, ie, fast yourselves even in the privacy of your apartments, during the day time after you are done at your job? I'd think you couldn't cook anything at home in the daytime, because the neighbors who were observing Ramadan would be all too aware when you were cooking and might be upset with you all for not respecting their beliefs? But I was curious how that was handled. Can't you nibble on something cold/uncooked during the day and then just eat big at the iftar (sp?) afterwards? Do you all get invited out to iftar every night or just the special occasions like that fundraiser you discussed? And at work, well I guess you have to fast during those four hours, but yes, it's only four hours so most jobs even in the USA you're not expected to eat.
But I was curious about that, if you had to follow the customs even in your apartment... remembering the adage "When in Rome....do as the Romans do!"
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