From the Land of Fire: Ramadan Day 3

A little bit about me...

Hi my name is Raechelle, and I lived in the secular Muslim country of Azerbaijan as a Youth Development Volunteer for the Peace Corps for three years and three months. I am now the Administrator of the official Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Friends of Azerbaijan group. As such, I am working to promote Peace Corps third goal of helping promote a better understanding of Azerbaijani people to Americans.

I created this blog as a way for future Peace Corps Volunteers, my friends and family, and Americans in general to understand what life as a Peace Corps Volunteer is like. As part of the pilot program for Youth Development in Azerbaijan, my work in Azerbaijan was diverse to say the least. I took on a role as youth educator, mentor and promoter. I helped with academic advising, established informal youth service clubs, encouraged youth to be proactive in their communities, promoted volunteer-ism and making a positive contribution to their communities.

I served as an extended volunteer, meaning that I served a third year instead of the traditional two year and three month service. During that time, I got married to my community counterpart and embraced many parts of the Azerbaijani culture. It is my hope to provide you a sense of understanding of life as a Peace Corps volunteer, life in Azerbaijan, and a bit about Azerbaijani culture through my experiences. Please feel free to comment or email me if you have any questions or suggestions for topics you'd like to hear more about.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Ramadan Day 3

Definitely not feeling as well as I could today. Yesterday afternoon I experienced a lot of cramps in my lower intestines about 3 hours before we could eat. It was really hot out, so I sweat more yesterday than I did on day one. I think the extra sweating dehydrated me a little more than I had anticipated. I ended up feeling so tired that I had to take a nap for two hours around 6pm. Last night was not so bad though, as we didn't over eat this time. We decided that if we were still hungry an hour after eating a normal meal, that we could always just have late seconds. It was not necessary. I of course prepared too much food, so we have left-overs each night to go with the new food. This time I included a bit of fruit into my diet, as I'm not sure taking a vitamin is enough. The fruit was nice because it gave extra hydration.

We woke up at 430 this morning again, and right away it was more difficult than the previous two days. I was not hungry. I think Farid sensed I was a bit cranky at the idea of eating when I wasn't hungry. I stumbled out of bed, for the 6th time to use the bathroom before getting everything ready. It was so hard to open my eyes, I was literally bumping into things. My brain was protesting the early wake up. I decided not to have an egg this morning, as they tend to make me feel nauseous. Not sure why, but the smell and taste of eggs usually makes me gag. I can't really eat them without feeling sick unless I eat them with something else. Instead, I supplemented with a higher calorie protein... peanuts. Oh yeah, I ate peanuts at 430 am! I also decided not to have jam with the bread, hoping that the cut in sugar content would help alleviate stomach cramps. Then we went back to bed for a few hours, meditating myself into a relaxing sleep.

Bad news though... those peanuts are high in fiber too. 730 am came with a system cleanse, and my stomach has been upset since I woke up the second time. My mouth was also very dry already, but I think that was cause I slept on my back, causing my mouth to hang open like a cat fish. Anyone ever experience that dry, leathery feeling on your tongue? Yeah, not cool when you can't drink water. It's now 930 am, and I'm feeling better than I did two hours ago. Today I'm going to research better methods of doing fasting for Ramadan. I think I need to be more aware of what foods are helpful, and which are not.