A Typical Day?

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, savour you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it will not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky, and want, more than all the world, your return. ~Mary Jean Irion

In one of my first blog posts, if I recall correctly, I included a short bit about what a typical day was for me. A lot of things have changed since that post so I think it's about time for an update on what a typical day for me looks like.

Now lets begin by saying that there is no such thing as a typical day. If there is no such thing as a typical day, then how does one describe a typical day? Well right now the school is still on holiday which means that a typical day during the school holiday is different from a typical day during the school term.
Note: In Kenya the schools are closed during the months of April, August, and December. The school term lasts 3 months and one month for holiday.

Well during the days of school holiday, a typical day looks like this:

Wake up casually at any given time and spend the day walking around town. Usually I will have discussions with people I've met - such as students from any of the given post-secondary institutions in town, shop owners, community development workers (i.e. NGO workers), etc. I also tend to end up meeting new people and having talks with them also.

Typically, the conversations include information about what I'm doing in Kenya, where I come from, how I learned Kiswahili, etc. The subjects of the conversations tend to vary from person to person. Sometimes we will discuss HIV/AIDS and prevention methods, other times we will discuss perceived problems in the community and what can be done to solve the perceived problems.

No matter who I talk to or where I go, I almost always walk (sometimes I will take a matatu if I'm traveling far). My walks around town are by far the most typical thing.
In my walking, I typically see many things which may be considered abnormal back home.
A lot of roads in town are not paved so I tend to walk on sand and dirt while walking from one place to the next. (I wear sandals every day :D )
Typically, I will see herds of sheep resting around town. Sometimes there will be may be 6 or 7 sheep resting in the shade underneath a broken down truck. At other times, there will 2 or 3 sheep on the road (occasionally in the center) not going anywhere.
Also, typically they there are storks to be seen. The storks around here are quite large birds - in fact I've seen some that are as tall as me. On occasion the storks can be seen flocking together near an intersection on my way to work. At other times, the storks can be seen flying around a bit or they will be in the trees enjoying the cool breeze.

Typically there will also be herds of goats (and/or sheep) that will walk around town. Sometimes the herd will be lead by a kijana (young person), sometimes the heard will apear to be walking as if they are not being lead by anyone. Sometimes the herd of goats will cause a brief traffic slowdown which will result in loud horns being honked, and on occasion a goat will be (gently) tapped by a vehicle as a signal to get "off the road".
Typically there will also see a few donkeys near the end of town.

I will also typically see some dead animals or at least parts of dead animals as I walk. For instance, I tend to walk by at least one piece of a goat's leg almost daily (though the location where it may be can vary). On a few other occasions I've also seen the skeletons of goats and small birds in the particularly sandy parts of town as I walk.

However, considering that there is no such thing as a typical day, what I see and who I talk to on each day varies with each new day. Each time the planet spins and brings about sunlight once more, a new day begins and each new day brings new adventures, new friends, and new insights.

Ramadan

The best of all medicinces is resting and fasting. ~Benjamin Franklin

"Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar...It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from dawn until dusk. Fasting is meant to teach the Muslim patience, modesty and spirituality. Ramaḍān is a time to fast for the sake of Allah, and to offer more prayer than usual. During Ramaḍān, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds. As compared to solar calendar, the dates of Ramadan vary, moving forward about ten days each year. Ramadhan was the month in which the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed[Qur'an 2:185] to the Prophet Muhammad." (Wikipedia - yes I know its not a real reference, so you can look up the real references on the Wikipedia article)

A few days before Ramadan began, I was invited to attend the kickoff of a new project called Twaweza tukiwa pa moja (literal translation: We are able/We can if we are together). At this event, community elders and religious leaders were invited. There were some religious leaders who even came all the way from Mombasa (10.5 hours away by public transport).
At any rate, at this event, I got a chance to meet people who work with organizations like Aphia II, the World Food Programme, local clinics, the Kenya Red Cross, etc.

As there were religious leaders and community elders, a lot of the gathering took place in Kiswahili and in another language - I think it was Somali. Unfortunatley, I didn't understand a lot of what was said in Somali. I did understand what they were talking about though and I do have faith in this new project.

Anyways, this blog post is not about the project, its about Ramadan so lets get back to Ramadan. At this community gathering, the religious leaders mentioned the upcoming Ramadan. Since I didn't know much about Ramadan, I did what I thought would get me the most information without appearing to be ignorant: I googled it. After I had some basic information about Ramadan I asked some people in my town for further information in regards to how it would affect the town.

In a nutshell this is what happens: everything shuts down. OK not everything, but my favorite hotelis (small restaurants/cafes) are closed. It would be ignorant on my part to say that everything shuts down as the population here is not entirely Islamic.

As part of Ramadan, fasting takes place from dawn til dusk which means that there are no hotelis that will have food or drinks available until dusk. It is safe enough for me to walk from a few hotelis that are not too far if I want to eat out, but my favorite hotelis are much farther away and I would probably spend more money on a taxi back than on the food itself. Its only for a month so I suppose I will survive.

Also related to Ramadan, though not related to the aforementioned event, last week at the Cross Sector workshop (see previous blog posts) I met a gentleman named Said who said he's going to get me some reading materials. Included in those materials will be an English translation of the Qur'an and the Hadith.
Said also recommended that I try fasting during Ramadan to further integrate and better understand the community.

I have been following his advice (though not only because it was his advice). In part, I was following his advice, but at the same time I was more interested in what it would be like to fast. On top of it all since this is my first time living in a predominantly Islamic community I thought it would be a good idea to fast with them.
I realize of course that not the entire town is Islamic yet I want to learn as much as I can about their culture and make the most of my time in this community.

I also want to mention that since Ramadan has started I've had more invitations to join Islam than I've had in the rest of the time I've been in this community. In fact, today as I was making my way to the Kenya Red Cross to offer myself as a volunteer I had three invitations to join Islam.