Start Your Engines !

Yes , it is that time of year again. Ramadan fast approaches, starting in a week . Everyone here in Libya that I know , well almost everyone , is busy preparing for the month long daytime fasting , night time feasting.

Grocery  shopping , stocking up on food stuffs normally not seen any other time of the year are appearing on the selves of super markets . Special treats are being made and stored in anticipation of  the month long feasting. Many families also use this time as a excuse to replenish their kitchen supplies , such as dishes, glasses, pots and pans,maybe a microwave oven .

Prayers and contemplation of Allah ( God) are paramount during Ramadan .Special evening prayers are held each night at the neighborhood mosques , broadcast over the loud speakers for all to hear in case one is unable to attend . One may even watch special  prayer programs on TV from the comfort of ones own home.Many families have Quran readings in the evenings . All this serves to remind one of the awesomeness of God and that we are His servants.

We Muslims are told to remember the poor all the time,to give charity , but during Ramadan charity is MUST.Charity not of just money but of our time , our love , patience , forgiveness ,tolerance ,friendship to all, not only to strangers, but to those we love as well .It is a month when we are asked to think of others first , ourselves last . This is the way we are meant to live all the time but fail to do . Families come together forgiving old wounds and sharp words .

Ramadan is a magical month of discovering your inter strenghts and weakness . Testing your faith. Purifing your being . Remembering that we are but a small thing put here on Earth only to worship Allah .

A Gift From Allah

Today Allah gifted us with a wonderful present of clouds and rain. There was a cool wind from the north. My soul absorbed the rain like a sponge absorbs water. I felt like I had stumbled onto a oasis after wandering lost in the desert  for so long .

A drop of rain fell onto my lips as I hung my head out the kitchen window to let the rain fall on my face. I was tempted to lick it from my lips but remembered I was fasting. The temptation was strong , almost over whelming. Until I realized this was a test of my faith and the strength of my fast. I let it trickle down my face to my chin. By now my entire face was glistening from the rain.I pulled my head back from the clouds, turned to the stove to cook our dinner, feeling refreshed physically and spiritually.


 Later, I walked into the living room to tell Moe something. I saw it was glowing in a pink orange light. I looked out the balcony to find the source of this light. It was the sunset .

Ramadan Is Almost Over !

Ramadan is almost over . Maybe next Sunday or Monday ? Glade it is nearly finished . This has been the strangest Ramadan for Moe and I . Many of the people we know have also said that it was awful for them too . I can't describe the feeling but it wasn't nice . In the old days we would have said the " Vibes where bad man" !

The weather was bad . The food I cooked was bad . The people were nasty and tried to cheap me on the prices of things just because I was a foreigner . If it was someplace I didn't normally shop , that happened until I told them I was married to a Libyan , but WHY should I have to say that ?

Then the other day when we went to town to buy a few things we had a altercation with a Libyan man that quickly turned nasty and almost violent . He told Moe he couldn't possibly be a Libyan because NO DECENT LIBYAN WOULD MARRY A FOREIGNER WHORE OF A DOG . I was pretty sure Moe would've kill that man if he had been able to get a hold of him , cane or no cane . That left me shaking and Moe muttering for the rest of the day . That was the first time I had seen such naked hatred before here in Libya .

A person actually asked me was I fasting . That is not so shocking by it's self since people are always asking me stupid things like that all the time. I have learned just to ignore those questions , but this man knows me . I just looked at him , shook my head and walked off .

My sometimes sane friend called me all in a panic the other day . She had been reading the Hadiths , the sayings and teachings of the Prophet Mohammed , and in one of them somewhere it talks about Jinns . What upst her was that her husband had not harvested thier dates yet. She became upset when she read in one of the Hadiths that the Jinns eat the date pits . How where the Jinns going to have a thing to eat if her husband didn't harvest the dates so she could throw the pits out side for the Jinns ? And if they don't have anything to eat , then the Jinns would come inside their house and cause them trouble all this coming winter . I had to calm her down and convince her that the Jinns could find plenty of food all over the place since there are only at least 1,000,000,000,000 date trees in Libya . I could tell she had her doubts .

Ok , I will stop my moaning here before you stop reading my blog , but I am very glade this month is almost over ! I sincerely hope your month , whether or not you celebrate Ramadan, was much better than ours . And they say the Devil is locked up in Hell during the month of Ramadan , but I am not too sure about that this year . Evil is a foot .

Hot , Hurrican Ike , And Too Much Ramadan !

Spoke to some of my family in Houston last night before Hurricane Ike hit .They had batten down the hatches so to speak . I have spoken to my daughter and son in law this morning and they are ok .Thank Allah !The National Hurricane Center said that Ike was roughly 600 miles across . That is the same distance from Houston, Texas all the way to Panama City , Florida , 6 states apart .

Many of the rivers, creeks, and bayous that lacy their way all through out the Houston area have flooded . Galveston Island and the low lands north of the island getting the worse of course .Still not a lot of news coming out of there yet since many of the telephone and electric lines are down as well as internet too . So maybe until later today or even tomorrow before I hear from the rest of the family there .

On the other hand , I have have had enough of HOT , STICKY , HUMID Tripoli today !!! The fan quit working last night . I have the air conditioner going full blast and it is still hot in the house .I take a shower and before I even dry off , I am sweating all over again ! I wish it would get cool and maybe have some rain .It's raining ever where else in the world , why not here ???

And .... Allah forgive me , I have had enough of Ramadan today ! It is one of those days when you feel like this has gone on way too long . I am not hungry or thirsty , just tired of the whole thing . Maybe it is worrying over my family that is making me feel all out of sorts , or maybe it is the full moon coming up . I don't know . I think I will go back to bed ...... until it is all over !