19, 31, 53

19, 31, and 53... Not only are all three of these numbers prime (I've been studying for my GREs, can you tell?), they each have a particular significance in my life right now, and they each represent a number of days. Curious? Read on!

31 is easy: that's the number of days the new trainees have been in country. They have started their teaching practicum and soon will find out where they are being sent after training. How exciting! I'm still enjoying working at training, though I miss my own site every day and can't wait to see them again in October (I'm going for a week to say my goodbyes).

19 is the number of days I've been observing Ramadan. Ramadan, the most holy of months according to the Islamic calendar, is known as Ramazan or Orazai in Kazakhstan. Kazakhs, like most other Central Asian ethnic groups such as Uzbeks, Tatars, or Kyrgyz, are nominally Muslims. They consider Islam to be a cornerstone of their ethnic identity, but they practice a strikingly secular version of the faith. Most Kazakhs rarely go to the mosque, don't know the words to Arabic prayers, and have never read the Koran They are similar in their practices to people I've heard referred to as "Christmas/Easter Christians," meaning they are moved by a faith and enjoy fun celebrations and joyful moments without the rigor of real religious structure. Perhaps needless to say, this means that very few Kazakhs observe the traditional Ramadan fast, in which it is forbidden to eat or drink anything from just before dawn to sunset. Besides the fast, throughout the month of Ramadan devout Muslims try to make peace with enemies and avoid conflict and be particularly careful around the always forbidden alcohol and pork.

I've known select people throughout my two years who have kept the Ramadan fast, including teachers, students, and fellow volunteers, but I've never lived with anyone who is keeping it before. This is the third time I've been in country for Ramadan, and in my third host family there are three of us keeping the fast: grandmother, oldest granddaughter, and myself. The first four days were rough, I tried to limit my physical activity, but my job involves travel and lots of presenting, not exactly conducive to saving energy. I whined about how lucky Muslims are in the Middle East: they are blessed with a late dawn and an early dusk, whereas we had to rise at 3.30am to finish eating by 4 and were not allowed to let anything pass our lips until 7:45 in the evening. Really, I'm just lucky the fast is in September: it moves back every year, so next years' fasters will have an even longer day. Somewhere around day 5, though, my body got used to it. There are still the occasional grumbles in my stomach and thoughts about a nice cold drink, but now the difficulty is mostly in reminding myself not to accidentally taste anything. As the days go on, breakfast tea gets later and dinner happens earlier, and I've only had one day where I felt I might faint. The culprit on that day? Not lack of food but lack of tea: I'd forgotten to have anything with caffeine at the pre-dawn meal and was hit with the corresponding symptoms of withdrawal as soon as I woke up for good. My 7.15pm emergency bottle of Coke on the ride home instantly erased my headache and nausea. I'll have to get over my caffeine addiction, but quitting cold turkey doesn't appear to be the way to go.

53 is.... the number of days I have left in Kazakhstan! Really, I've never been one of the volunteers with a daily countdown till the end of service, and I had to think pretty hard to come up with that number, but now that I look at it, that's a pretty small number. Less than two months... Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and globetrotting adventures will just have to wait. I decided last week that I'll need some recoup and recovery time back home once training ends. Seeing my name on a flight listing to Minneapolis was a heart-pumping moment: I'm not done with Central Asia yet and just thinking of leaving KZ brings tears to my eyes, but to see home again.... to speak to my family in person.... to have hugs.... to laugh with friends.... to eat all those foods I've missed.... It will be a joy to be back.

So plan a trip to Minneapolis in November! I'll be sitting in a coffee shop wrangling with the question of what comes next and planning my own trip around the country to visit you all.

Lots of love,
Nora