Reflections on Ramadan
Note to reader: This posting is a little late- Ramadan was from the September 24th through October 23rd.
For the past month many religious people here in Ganja have been celebrating the holy month of Ramadan. If I didn’t have my own health problems and if my host family were more religious, I would have liked to have participated more fully in this ritual. Since I have to keep a steady diet and my host parents are OVERLY concerned about my eating habits, it would have been virtually impossible. I’m sure most of you know that Ramadan is a month-long period of fasting. Believers wake up before sunrise and eat and pray and then do not eat for the whole day and then when the sun has gone down they break their fast.
I was really looking forward to Ramadan because it is considered the most holy of holidays in the Muslim tradition and I was excited to experience it here in a predominantly Muslim country. However I have to admit that I was a little disappointed.
It may have to do with the fact that I myself was not fasting and I do not live with a religious family. Azerbaijan, as Muslim countries go, is quite secular, this has to do in part to the fact that for 70 years under the Soviet regime, all religion was suppressed and people were not allowed to openly practice their faith. Now in the 15 years since Azerbaijan has gained its independence there has been a resurgence of religious activity especially in the regions outside of Baku. Another interesting fact is that 20 million ethnic Azeris live in Northern Iran (what people here call Southern Azerbaijan). There are more Azeris in Iran than in Azerbaijan, which has a population of around 8 million. Like Iranian Muslims, Azerbaijani Muslims mostly follow the Shi’a faith. And according to some people I have talked to here, there is an ever increasing Iranian influence on Azerbaijan. All this basically says is that there are some people here who follow the Muslim faith very closely and some who have nothing to do with religion whatsoever.
I was expecting there to be a month where life here was very different but in fact everything pretty much operated just like the other 11 months of the year. If you walked into Ganja you would not know that it was Ramadan. I was hoping for something a little more obvious. Some people I know were very excited to be fasting and clearly enjoyed this time of year. But as a whole nothing seemed to change much. But I think that may be the nature of Ramadan, it’s a more reflective and personal time so it isn’t clear in public what people are doing. And people don’t walk around with signs on their foreheads saying “kiss me, I’m fasting” So I don’t know what I was expecting, really.
I think it has something to do with the fact that here the holiday hasn't been overtaken by the capitalists trying to make a billion dollars on greeting cards and blow-up lawn ornaments. I'm not used to subtle holidays. I would be interested to know what Ramadan is like in other Muslim countries.
At the conclusion of Ramadan there were two days of celebration; meaning two days off from work. Families will get together and have a large meal or two or three. I was invited to a colleagues house for the day. We had a typical Azeri meal with different salads and of course the Azeri "national" dish Plov. Which is just rice with a chicken broth sauce. The way people talk about it here you would think it was filet mingon but. it really is just rice. I don't have the heart to say that - yes we have 'plov' in the United States and yes it did taste much better than here. Its the same every house I go to because plov is only eaten on special occaisons- like when guests come over.
After we ate at my friends house then we went to her uncle's house where the EXACT same dishes were prepared again. For whatever reason I was not at my best and had a very difficult time with this family. I was just not in the mood to be the freak show. Everything I did they laughed at or commented on and the entire meal I spent trying listen what they were whispering about me and trying to answer questions about me myself. As I've said before. I hate being talked about as if I'm not in the room and as if I don't understand Azeri. Then after I had been talking most of the time in Azeri one of the women commented on how bad my Azeri was and asked me how I could live here. I practically blew up at them. Which is VERY VERY VERY BAD. Women do not get angry here. Its okay for men but not for women. So it turned into a bad evening and we left soon after that. Another bad example! But I have to admit it has motivated me to learn Azeri even more. However I don't think I will be invited back to their house again.
For the past month many religious people here in Ganja have been celebrating the holy month of Ramadan. If I didn’t have my own health problems and if my host family were more religious, I would have liked to have participated more fully in this ritual. Since I have to keep a steady diet and my host parents are OVERLY concerned about my eating habits, it would have been virtually impossible. I’m sure most of you know that Ramadan is a month-long period of fasting. Believers wake up before sunrise and eat and pray and then do not eat for the whole day and then when the sun has gone down they break their fast.
I was really looking forward to Ramadan because it is considered the most holy of holidays in the Muslim tradition and I was excited to experience it here in a predominantly Muslim country. However I have to admit that I was a little disappointed.
It may have to do with the fact that I myself was not fasting and I do not live with a religious family. Azerbaijan, as Muslim countries go, is quite secular, this has to do in part to the fact that for 70 years under the Soviet regime, all religion was suppressed and people were not allowed to openly practice their faith. Now in the 15 years since Azerbaijan has gained its independence there has been a resurgence of religious activity especially in the regions outside of Baku. Another interesting fact is that 20 million ethnic Azeris live in Northern Iran (what people here call Southern Azerbaijan). There are more Azeris in Iran than in Azerbaijan, which has a population of around 8 million. Like Iranian Muslims, Azerbaijani Muslims mostly follow the Shi’a faith. And according to some people I have talked to here, there is an ever increasing Iranian influence on Azerbaijan. All this basically says is that there are some people here who follow the Muslim faith very closely and some who have nothing to do with religion whatsoever.
I was expecting there to be a month where life here was very different but in fact everything pretty much operated just like the other 11 months of the year. If you walked into Ganja you would not know that it was Ramadan. I was hoping for something a little more obvious. Some people I know were very excited to be fasting and clearly enjoyed this time of year. But as a whole nothing seemed to change much. But I think that may be the nature of Ramadan, it’s a more reflective and personal time so it isn’t clear in public what people are doing. And people don’t walk around with signs on their foreheads saying “kiss me, I’m fasting” So I don’t know what I was expecting, really.
I think it has something to do with the fact that here the holiday hasn't been overtaken by the capitalists trying to make a billion dollars on greeting cards and blow-up lawn ornaments. I'm not used to subtle holidays. I would be interested to know what Ramadan is like in other Muslim countries.
At the conclusion of Ramadan there were two days of celebration; meaning two days off from work. Families will get together and have a large meal or two or three. I was invited to a colleagues house for the day. We had a typical Azeri meal with different salads and of course the Azeri "national" dish Plov. Which is just rice with a chicken broth sauce. The way people talk about it here you would think it was filet mingon but. it really is just rice. I don't have the heart to say that - yes we have 'plov' in the United States and yes it did taste much better than here. Its the same every house I go to because plov is only eaten on special occaisons- like when guests come over.
After we ate at my friends house then we went to her uncle's house where the EXACT same dishes were prepared again. For whatever reason I was not at my best and had a very difficult time with this family. I was just not in the mood to be the freak show. Everything I did they laughed at or commented on and the entire meal I spent trying listen what they were whispering about me and trying to answer questions about me myself. As I've said before. I hate being talked about as if I'm not in the room and as if I don't understand Azeri. Then after I had been talking most of the time in Azeri one of the women commented on how bad my Azeri was and asked me how I could live here. I practically blew up at them. Which is VERY VERY VERY BAD. Women do not get angry here. Its okay for men but not for women. So it turned into a bad evening and we left soon after that. Another bad example! But I have to admit it has motivated me to learn Azeri even more. However I don't think I will be invited back to their house again.
posted by Kateabroad @ 11:16 AM
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