Ramadan'09

And so, Ramadan 2009 begins today! I feel like it came upon us really suddenly this year... Hopefully, we'll settle into the routine pretty quickly.

When I was a kid, Ramadan was a huge deal. My mom would wake me an hour before Fajr (around 4:30 am), force-feed me parathas and make me drink 6 glasses of water so I wouldn't become dehydrated. School would start early and end early too so students could go home and sleep until Iftar. My brother and I would watch Ramadan programs on tv while our mom cooked yummy iftar food (pakoras, samosas and dahi baray oh my!). My dad would make fruit chaat with each piece of fruit perfectly sliced, diced and cubed. We'd send food to our neighbors in a platter covered with an embroidered napkin and they'd send us food in return.

I never really "felt" Ramadan in college... It's no fun waking up for a solitary sehri when you've barely slept 4 hours all night :( but my friends were wonderfully supportive and we'd have dinner together. Usually, I'd grab a bearclaw pastry from Panera on my way back from class and eat in my room while watching Full House on youtube before starting a paper or finishing homework :p.

Anyway, these days I'm unemployed and basically home all day... it actually feels good!