How Ya Doing ?

Hey ! Sorry I haven't posted recently OR even had time to read any of your wonderful blog posts ! It has just been crazy around the Condo these last few weeks what with being sick , lazy , lazier , and then super busy procrastinating ..... well, I haven't really had much time to do anything else! But hey , I have put that all behind me now , moved on , and have " JOE " ( the atmosphere / weather ) for Ramadan . I am finally ready for RAMADAN and not a minute too soon since it starts tomorrow .

Yep , I stayed up until 4 A.M. last night cooking the stuff that I can freeze ahead of time . Yeah ! We got the shopping done last week before they jacked up the prices in the stores .Today I spent cleaning , ugh ! Tomorrow all I have to is survive the 1st day , cook dinner and try to remember to be nice ! Hum .... oh , and pray that I don't break my fast with a bad thought or word .Phew ... looks like I am in for it !

I want to set aside a time to read the Quran this year with Moe ,everyday to remind us why we fast , to renew our faith , and strengthen our resolve in Islam . It will be good . I am looking forward to this since we tend to lose sight of what Ramadan is really about, what with the visiting, cooking , and the special TV shows brought on TV only during Ramadan.

To tell you the truth , these are the very things we should practice year around ; Muslims , Christians , and Jews , alike . Remembering Allah / God / Jehovah , paying HIM homage in our deeds and prayers .Not just something we bring out of the closet like special clothes for special occasions such as Ramadan, Passover, or Christmas , but every day .I am ashamed to admit that " I have to TRY to make TIME for reading the Quran " . What does that say about me ? That I am a slackered that needs to get back on the Straight Path .Wishing you well , Peace out , OTE

Count Down To Ramadan

This is what Moe looked like when he came back home last night after spending all day at the beach with his sister and his brothers and their family's , lol . He was tired out but so happy .

I stayed home to spend the day in the kitchen cooking food to freeze ahead for Ramadan . Ramadan is only a little more than a week away . I think it will start in the 31 of August this year , but will have to see what the moon says .And I still have a appointment with Sheila this week sometime too , OMG , rush , rush , rush .

I am hoping that by cooking as much as possible before hand , I won't be spending ALL my time in the kitchen this year . It remains to be seen and we all know that the road to hell is paved with good intentions huh ?LOL ! Seemed like a good idea at the time . Today I did some more cooking by preparing all the pickled veggies by setting them to start marinating . Tomorrow I hope to finish up with baking the pizzas . I also cooked up the soups too . All this goes into the freezer to be taken out as needed for dinners . Next I have to tackle the house cleaning ...ugh ! I hate that part more than the cooking .

Ramadan is 90% preparation and 10% doing what needs to be done . This isn't the correct way to celebrate Ramadan but it helps to get these things out of the way so you can devote your time to prayer , charitable acts , good deeds , good thoughts , and being good . Behaving well , being the operative words here . That's why prayer is so good , it keeps you on track when you want to scream at the idiot in front of you at the bakery , the store , in the traffic , moving so slowly when you still have 10,000 things to do for dinner time at sunset . Well , this idiot has to go and do some more stuff for preparing for Ramadan . Bye !

Mabruke Al Mawluade

Tonight is the eve ( Mozum) of the Mawluade , which is tomorrow. Mawluade is the celebration of the Muslim prophet Mohammed's birthday . The orthodox Muslims don't celebrate this day as the Prophet Mohammed said they were not to celebrate any days but the two Eids and the Friday prayers .

But here in Libya most family's get together this night to have a special dinner. Then afterwards the little boy's carry a large lite candle to symbolize the light of Islam brought into the world with the Prophet Mohammed's birth , little girls carry a large candelabra shaped like a hand called The Hand of Fatima that has candles on the ends of the finger tips , after the Prophet Mohammed's daughter Fatima . The children usually will have firecrackers to set off after it gets dark to make a loud celebratory noise much like America's 4th of July . There might be singing and dancing too . Of course there will be sweet tea after wards served with many sweets to make it a true occasion!

Each family is in charge of their own fireworks and it can get pretty competitive to see who has the most , the loudest , and can set off more than the others all at the same time . Some years you would think it is a war going on outside !The days leading up to the Mawluade and for several weeks after the Mawluade you can still hear those things going off at odd times of the day or night . I don't like this part of the celebrations because I think it is way too dangerous for children to be playing with fireworks , but every year I would be out voted !

There is the fairly recent addition of the TREE . Sometimes you will find a tree , what Christians would think of as a Christmas tree , set up in a living room . A man will present one of these trees to his newly engaged fiancee along with a complete dress outfit , with jewelry too ! Lucky girl ! This tree will be artificial , but today when Moe and I were out shopping in one of the new mini malls that have started to sprouted up around Tripoli , I saw this real tree decorated as a Mawlaude Tree . As I was taking a picture of the tree to show you , a young man came up and wanted to pose with the tree in the picture . I told him I was posting it on my blog , because people here are so funny about having their pictures taken . He got so excited ! He began to run around everywhere shouting I am going to be on a blog !!! I wonder if he knew what a blog was .

Of course all of this is strictly not religiously acceptable . The time should be spent in prayer. The next day , the actual day of the Mawluade , it is business as usual , as everyone goes about their normal day . Some years the schools and the government offices are closed .

On the way home we drove by one of the main markets in town and I had forgotten by this time that this would be a big mistake , since this is one of the area's where fireworks , cheap toy's , drums, candles , and the tree's are sold . It took us an hour to drive one short block . I would have taken pictures but the traffic demanded my full attention ! Here is wishing all of you who celebrate, a very nice Mawluade .