Ramadan

Every morning…really early at around 1 am the Muslim calls to pray are resounded from the local mosque. At first it would wake me up…I tend to sleep through them now unless I am struggling to fall asleep at all. At least the calls don’t compare to the pesky Rooster.

At the end of Ramadan, the local radio station, which is located right next to ICDI property, allows all the children to get on and say hi to their mother, father, or friends for a small fee. So, for the past two days their have been a mass number of people outside of the station/on the station. It reminds me of a 4th of July in the states with people playing on the lawn, soccer and basketball being played in the background, everyone tending to enjoy themselves….the teens are even cruising on their bicycles or motorcycles. I don’t think their will be fireworks but it does feel like a grand ole party with everyone enjoying themselves and knowing everyone else who is present.

There are moments where I am struck by the differences between the American and African culture. Then there are other moments where I am reminded how similar we really are. The African’s have parades and parties, the employees act like employees…always wanting more from their employers for doing less work, people mess up, they love their families, and the list goes on. It is neat to be reminded that even though we are so different we are still human and operate very similarly in many manners.

Tonight, I get to go to an ICDI person’s home for dinner. This guy knows English but his family does not. I am excited and nervous. The missionaries who live around here keep trying to get me to eat bugs and such. I have no desire and I hope they don’t serve anything truly odd. Yet, this family is accustomed to American’s so I will hope that I can stomach it…I guess this is part of diving in feet first.