The month of June brought a very
different schedule to our lives. It was
the month of fasting which alters most aspects of the community. Restaurants are not open during the day here
in Barat and people operate on a rather different schedule as well; rising at
3am to make and eat breakfast, going to work late, napping longer during the
day, and closing up shop early.
John fasted most days along with
our neighbors. This resulted in him
waking up at 4am to eat breakfast and also use the time to study. Then as I,
Erin, was getting up at 5:30am, John usually went back to bed until 8ish. John would join the rest of us for lunch, but
wouldn’t eat again until 6pm when the fast finished for the day. Many people were less consistently available
which made regular language study difficult for John. The boys finished local school and
homeschooling, so they were home all day, yet many of the neighbor kids were
not, either spending their time at their grandparents’ house or attending special
religious classes. As the boys didn’t
have any organized activities, John came up with the idea of holding an
informal soccer practice twice a week in the neighborhood we are planning to
move to. The goal was to provide an
activity for kids the same age as Caedmon and Whitman to enable them to get to
know each other before we actually move.
It turned out to be an enjoyable activity for all. During most days Evangeline and I wandered
around visiting with our neighbors to be.
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| Soccer in our neighborhood to be |
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Fruit Soup Ingredients: a very popular way to break the fast
(mix papaya, fruit syrup, coconut jellies, sweetened condensed milk, and jello with water and ice)
We brought drinks or sweets to 'break the fast' each soccer practice, though most of the kids in that area were not fasting.
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| Caedmon eating jello, made from agar (seaweed). |
At the end of the fasting month the largest
holiday is celebrated. Culturally this
is a time when special foods are made and family and friends visit. We visited various friends and neighbors the
day of the holiday and the few days following.
At each house we visited we were met with drinks, cookies, and plates of
food. Not knowing how many of our
friends might stop by our own house, I prepared a large pot of a traditional Barat
chicken soup. It has a little bite to
it, but Whitman thoroughly enjoyed it!
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| Blending spices: large chili pepper, lemon grass, ginger, garlic, and shallots. |
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| Spices are mixed with chicken broth, coconut milk, salt, chicken bullion, and fried shallots. It is served with rice and hard boiled eggs. |
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| Visiting and eating at a friend's house. |
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| Visiting family with a friend. |
