I flew to Germany on July 31st
2012. At that time it was also the
fasting month or Ramadan for the Muslims.
So I have to spend two-third of my Ramadan in Germany.
I know I had been doing this
during my Masters study, but I never done it in summer time. The fasting time begins from dawn to dusk,
and during summer this period is the longest in a day. My experience in fasting in Europe was during
autumn time where the fasting period is more or less the same than in Indonesia
(+ 14 hours). But now I have to
do it for around 18 hours!!! In
addition, the weather is drier than in Indonesia, so the level of thirstiness
is greater. Even before I flew, I
already worried to face it. Am I going
to survive? Of course I could also choose
not to fast at all. But hey, I don’t
want to quit before it started. The idea
of challenging myself is more interesting than just quitting. And of course in religious term, I could get
more berkah (like good karma) by
sticking to my faith.
In my first day of fasting,
the weather was very nice. The sun was
full and hot. So, it was even
harder. First I had to survive the time
and second the weather. The four-hour
jump from my regular fasting time was surely difficult. Suddenly I have to hold my fasting
longer. It would be better if I add my
fasting time gradually, like adding 30 minutes each day. In this case my body will adapt easily. But I didn’t have this option…
The hot and dry weather had
made it worst. My mouth and skin became
dry but I had to overcome it. My
strategy was to wear normal clothes (shirt, long pants, sneakers and not shirt,
short, sandals) to avoid over excess heat loss.
It’s not humid anyway, so I didn’t have to be afraid of getting
sweaty.
Another strategy is picking
on the meal. My sister is practicing
food combining, she said that vegetables can hold our hunger longer than
rice. So I took salad for my early meal
before start fasting. Somehow it worked,
I didn’t feel so hungry.
 |
| My main meal during fasting time |
Of course I still had to do
my normal activity like going to the course.
But I also kept looking at my watch, like a little kid that can’t wait
to have the fasting break. I didn’t have
problem with looking to people’s eating.
In this case, even in Jakarta, people that don’t fast can eat openly in
public. So it wasn’t a big deal for
me. It’s the time that killed me. In the end I survived my first day. I kept drinking until I slept because I felt
my thirstiness had not over…
Today is my sixth day of
fasting. My body has better adapted. Beside, the weather had become cloudy and
windy, so I am getting better in having fasting during summer. My sleep time is changing because I have to
eat around 9 PM and having early meal around 2 AM, but it’s normal. I sleep whenever I got a chance. If I got morning class, I sleep in the
afternoon. And if I have a class in the
afternoon, I sleep in the morning. I
think so far, I have survived it J
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