Qamer Al-Deen

The last few days have been hard. Yesterday, my tounge was stuck to the roof of my mouth nearly all day as I forgot to drink water during suhoor. But I still didn't break my fast, yay! Oh, and the quamer al-deen turned out ok. The arab market didn't have the fruit strips, but the shop owner told me I could just use whole dried apricots. The drink turned out really thick, so I couldn't drink much, but it tasted good. Next time I won't go with whole apricots I think.

Weird Things

So to build on my last post, there are more weird things going on with my body. I didn't feel nauseous yesterday, however I felt incredibly full after only eating a little bit. I made potatoes for al-fitr and I felt full after only a few bites! I gradually ate a little more for the nutrients, but after eating about as much as I would regularly for dinner, I felt like I was going to explode!


We will see how things go today! I am learning to make Qamer al-Deen, and I would like to be able to drink more than a few sips before feeling full ;). 

This is hard... but good so far

The last few days of fasting have been hard. I have felt an ache in my stomach all day and my lips have dried out very quickly. However, it hasn't been horrible. I have been able to generally ignore hunger and plenty of chapstick helps my lips.


So far I have actually been in a pretty good mood, and I have felt a lot more energy than I have in a long time. I have been reading a lot, in English and Arabic, and I have found it easier to memorize Arabic words quicker, but I think that that may be due to the fact that I have finished with my stressful summer class, and not because I am fasting.


Another thing that has been interesting, which I am sure is due to fasting, is that I look at food very differently. Since I am only able to eat at specific times of day, I am much more picky about what I get to eat. A lot of junk food, fast food, and processed foods don't seem worth it to me, and instead I have been eating foods that are high in vitamins, energy, and water. I think my body may be going through some kind of detox because of this, as yesterday I ate meat that was just a little bit fatty, and I felt nauseous immediately.

First time waking up for the morning meal

I attempted to wake up at 4 A.M. today to eat... but four turned into 5 A.M..... and five turned into 6 A.M when I finally got up and downed a ton of watermelon, figs, and water before the sun came up. I already knew that I would have a hard time getting up before sunrise as I usually have a hard time waking up in the morning. Ha Ha, waking me up in the morning is kind of like trying to summon a lake troll....

Hello!

Hi! My name is Amanda Duran and I am a secular humanist fasting for Ramadan.

So the first thing I should probably explain is what a secular humanist is. A secular humanist can be defined as someone who essentially lives by two basic principles: 1- treat all people with dignity, respect, and kindness (and when this says all people, it means ALL people, regardless of race, nationality, religion, political affiliation, ect.), 2- pursue knowledge (this in and of itself is for two reasons, self improvement and overall progression for mankind, either in the form of scientific discovery or increased understanding of each other). The next thing that one must know about secular humanism is that one lives by these principles WITHOUT a belief in any type of god/s, hence the "secular" in secular humanism.

Secondly, I should probably explain why I am choosing to fast for Ramadan. The obvious reason is because of my principles- I want to fast in order to pursue knowledge about it. But the reason I chose Ramadan, as opposed to just about any other practice in any other religion, is because since I was young, I have felt some kind of draw to the Middle East, and with the Middle East comes Islam.

To explain: I was born into a mixed race family from Orem, Utah. My dad is from El Salvador, and my mom is American, so growing up I was very sensitive to issues of race and diversity, and I believe that sensitivity is the reason I was drawn to Arab and Islamic culture. The first time I felt a pull was in the sixth grade. My class was reading a newspaper article about a hotel that ransacked because the owner was Arab. I remember there was a picture of one of the walls with the words "Go Home Terrorist!" spray painted on it. At first I was confused as to why the man's hotel was ransacked, but my teacher said that it was because the people who did it blamed this man for the 9/11 attacks. I looked at the photo again, and I remember thinking that the words "go home terrorist" sounded very familiar to me, except that instead of terrorist, I heard, "Go home illegal immigrant!" 

Throughout the rest of my school years, the issue of Islam, Arabs, and the terrorist attacks often came up, and even though I was ignorant about the religion and Arab culture at the time, I often found myself defending them.  As the debates continued, the more I felt a draw to study so I had more information to use when these discussions came up. 

Now I am a senior in the International Studies program at the University of Utah, and an avid student of Arabic. This upcoming year, I will finally get to spend some time in the Middle East, and I am desperate to learn as much as I can before I go. Not only do I want to improve my Arabic language skills, but I want to increase my understanding of the culture as much as possible, hence, I am taking the chance this year to fast for Ramadan.

However, as I am a non-Muslim, I am going to be doing a few things differently. Instead of making prayers at the times I am supposed to, I will be meditating at the prayer times instead. Also, as I won't be able to spend the day time focusing on the same religious beliefs, I will spend my days keeping in mind why I am fasting, and work to improve my knowledge of Islam and Arabic (probably by reading the Quran in Arabic... and maybe writing an Arabic story :p). 

Wish me luck! And good luck to everyone who is fasting!