Posting from Lisa (email works faster)

So, I didn’t think I’d get another chance at the internet until after next week when I go to Mamou for life skills, which is the specialized training for HIV/AIDS at the 9 month mark- I know right, have I really been here for 9months already? Anyway, had a good birthday yesterday in Kankan, everybody was still in town from after our Halloween party which was also rockin (I was rainbow brite) and we had a breakfast for dinner party, so I got a lovely banana birthday pancake *thanks Monica! The awesome blog that was not to be was all about how I passed the last month at site. As some of you may know, it was the Muslim month of Ramadon, which in short is a month long period of fasting, praying extra, and reading the Koran, followed by the “fete” day which is an all day event of feasting, new clothes, the 10am mosque prayer and everybody gives their change and small money to the kids (kind of like Halloween) and then everyone goes to visit and give money to their elders. Before the month started I wasn’t sure if I wanted to fast or not, because I’m not Muslim, but I have heard of lots of other volunteers who fasted with a family for the cultural experience and solidarity of it. So, two days before Ramadan started (it depends on the moon- when 2 people of good credibility in the country see the first tiniest sliver of the moon after the new moon, that’s when it starts, so it lasts 28 to 30 days, depending on the moon’s cycle and the people who saw it’s credibility) I was invited to try to fast for the day and break the fast with their family, the Camaras, my good friend Cherif’s family. But it’s not as simple as just fasting- I’ll walk you through a day of Ramadan. 4:00am: wake up; make breakfast (if you’re a Guinean woman, buis for the whole family, if you’re me, some oatmeal just for me) and drink a few liters of water before the first 5:30 prayer. Then, you can go back to bed for a while before work. During the entire day you can’t eat, drink water, or even swallow your own spit if you’re a super Muslim going for bonus points. I didn’t drink water, but I definitely swallowed my own spit. Then throughout the day, a lot of people work less and pray more, study the Koran, or just hang out in a shady spot under a mango tree. You can’t listen to music during the day or watch suggestive television- no impure thoughts. Then at 1:30pm another prayer, then again at 4:00pm, then all the women start cooking the big meal for the whole family to break the fast at 6:55pm- a separate meal for the men and women. Then everyone gets on their prayer mats in the family concession and at the sound of the prayer call we drink water, put on our veils and pray with the head of the family leading us in prayer. The girls taught me how to go through the motions and take the abolution, and Cherif gave me a kid’s French book on the Koran to read a little during the days. It really is a beautiful peaceful religion. After the prayer, we drink the buis, pronounced BUEE, kind of the Guinean’s answer to oatmeal, rice powder cooked with water and rice chunks until bloated, mixed with sugar and water. Right afterwards, tot from a community bowl, which is made from manioc, has the consistency of a slimy booger, but tastes like a delicious noodle dumpling, or maybe I was just really hungry after not eating or drinking for 14 hours. After that, the big prayer at the Grand Mosque at 8:00pm, this during the month of Ramadan is 27 times of the up down motions- as opposed to the usual 4 times. Then around 9:00pm we enjoy second dinner and make tea, the off to bed for another day of fasting the next day. In total, I ended up fasting 26 of the 30 total days, it was exhausting and hard- especially because October is almost a relapse into the hot season as it’s at the end of the rainy season so there aren’t as many clouds to protect us from the heat, but I couldn’t be happier that I did it. I really feel more connected to my friends in the community than ever, and I plan on doing it again next year- Allah willing. In other news, I have a new site mate! A huge coincidence, she is also named Lisa, Dinguiraye will be talking about the two Lisas for years to come. She’s a volunteer with the program IFISH, and will be working closely with Africare. So, I probably won’t ever go more than 2 days without speaking English for the next 9 months, it will be really nice to have an American in town with me. So that about sums up my last few weeks, pretty soon I’ll be coming home for Christmas!