My third Ramadan in Indonesia and though some things have become pretty commonplace to me, I'm still learning about some of the finer details of the fasting season (and that I could stand to share those things here!) The word for fasting is "puasa." From what I have heard, fasters wake early to have a meal at 3:00 am and then begin their fast at 4:00 pm. Breaking fast time starts around sundown at 6:30 pm.
For the thirty days of fasting, it's pretty common to see curtains drawn in the windows of restaurants during daylight hours. From what I remember over the past couple of years, it's for hiding the temptation of food (and likely the eaters) from those who are fasting. Here is what I noticed on day 2 of the fasting season at my usual pre-LIFE Group roost:
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| sebelum buka puasa (pre-breaking fast) |
This is the view post-breaking fast, right around 6:00 pm as people were preparing to break the fast:
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| sesudah buka puasa (post-breaking fast) |
Went on a spontaneous date this afternoon across the street to Taman Sari, an assortment of restaurants across the street from our apartment, with my roommate Lea because she wanted some es cendol. I have no idea what cendol means but I took a pretty pixelated picture (thanks to my phone) of it. By this time, the sun had already set. The cendol is greenish in color and is shaped like solid macaroni. (Sorry if the picture doesn't look that appetizing. It is very legit if you eat/drink it!) The cendol is poured into a coconut milk base. Lea had hers with durian added!
I wanted to go in search of some fried goodness in the form of cumi goreng tepung (friend calamari), and as we walked, she explained that during the fasting time, everyone gets to enjoy a lot of drinks. After fasting all day long, it would be foolish to break fast with a big meal. Sweet drinks are pretty popular here for the initial fast breaking. Vendors line up on the side of the road just before breaking fast time (okay, there are only about 3 stalls across the street), ready to give the cold, sweet drinks to eager customers. Lea explained that the sugar helps to give energy to the person who has been fasting without food or water the whole day:
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| (pretty pixelated) cendol [chen-dol] |
My fried food craving was satisfied just a few short steps away and as we were waiting, the waiter brought two small bowls of kolak, and said "Buat buka puasa," or "for breaking fast." To be honest, it was my first time experiencing kolak before a meal. Lea explained (she did a lot of explaining this evening for me!) that the base is coconut milk, and that the dominant fruit in this one was sauteed banana (pisang), with some sweet potato chunks in it. Kolak is like a sweet soup, eaten for the same reason as the es cendol.
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| kolak |
Two precious years ago I decided to actively participate in my own fast at the same time as Ramadan and had no idea how God would surface so much crud that I had no idea was still in my heart. It has been very interesting to think about the security guards who stand outside all day long, the people who work in the malls standing on their feet most of the day, and especially the servers who work at the restaurants around food all the time - more than aware of the fact that their tummies are hungry. Tomorrow is day 8 of the fasting time and though I know the time will pass quickly, there is quite a ways to go.
My personal prayer for the fast is for a recognition of a spiritual hunger, rather than just a physical hunger in the time of physically abstaining from food - in my own heart, and in the hearts of the people around me. That physical food and sugary drinks only sustain for so long, but that there is One who said, "But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again..." (John 4:14)
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| Lea, kolak and (the remnants of) es cendol |
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