Start of Ramadan in Bali

Today is the first day of Ramadan in Bali. This morning at 3.30am, Ika’s brother called to tell her, and ask her if she was fasting. Ika is still breast feeding so she will not be fasting this time around.

Last night many Muslims across Bali and Indonesia, performed a Sholat Tarawih (evening prayer during the fasting month). Here in Bali, every evening around 7.30pm a Muslim prayer is broadcast on TV. This prayer is accompanied by a video compilation of people in scenes all over Indonesia (people walking in cities, farmers working in fields, people pulling the nets of fishing boats etc.). The 7.30pm time is to reflect sundown in Jakarta, the capital. This prayer is broadcast every day of the year, not just Ramadan.

Recently in Seminyak, I have observed teams of young Javanese guys working laying tarmac and digging deep ditches. In the hot sun they strain and sweat. I asked Ika how these guys can go without food and water, from before sunrise to after sunset. She said “That’s their fasting, they must learn to do it.” Allowances can be made for people in special conditions, and I reckon it physically dangerous, to work like that without food or water.

Today at Cafe Seminyak, I wished I had my camera along. We live in an international community here in Seminyak, and in front of me was a great scene. Sitting at one small table was a 50 year old French woman, super tanned like John Wayne’s saddle, dressed in a tiny bathing suit, with a wafter thin white shirt, over the top. Sitting 2 meters to her right, at another small table, was a 55 year old Muslim lady, dressed in blue jeans and a black Muslim cover, down to her waist. The staff and other customers were smirking and giggling at the skimpiness of the French woman’s outfit, and how she was strutting around. “Gigolo” said one fellow. Finally the French lady got up to leave, touching her toes as she did so, fixing her shoes. We all got a wrinkled view, of something I’d rather not remember, quite the opposite of what the Muslim lady wanted to project.

Visitors to Bali will probably not noticed anything different, because Ramadan has started. In fact tonight is the last night of the Kuta Karnival, complete with a food court (Kuta Beach & Jl. Melasti).

Selamat hari raya