This weekend I went with my group to Cape Town where we each did a home-stay in the Bo Kaap neighborhood with a Muslim family. We were particularly excited because of the timing of the excursion: the first weekend of Ramadan. Friday night I was quickly welcomed into the home by my new family: a mother, her husband, their 5 sons, 2 daughters-in-law, 4 grandchildren, and numerous friends and cousins. Then at 6:17pm it was time to break the fast.
The food came out on many many many plates of doughnuts, samoosas, soup, pies, dates…more food than all of us together could possibly eat. Then the men went off to mosque for prayer and the second wave of food was prepared: chicken, salad, rice, and bread. All together this made for a wonderful feast. After the meal we stayed up getting to know each other, watching rugby, and playing dominoes. Vanessa, one of the other girls from the program, came over and we took turns learning the game. Finally it was time for bed as we all had to be up before sunrise for breakfast.
For those of you that don’t know, during Ramadan, Muslims do not eat while the sun is up. This includes even drinking water. The whole month is meant as a time of cleansing. After Ramadan the families will go out to get new clothes, and in Bo Kaap they put a wonderful fresh coat of paint on their houses (I’ll get back to that later).
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