Yesterday it rained, it rained for the first time in three weeks, Alhamdulillah. It rained the whole evening, it's a blessed rain. Those have been weeks of heat and drought putting Muslims even more to the test during this special month of Ramadan. We feel the city center even more busy during the hours of fasting which seems a bit odd. We also noticed that the queues at supermarkets are longer which seems even odder. Something peculiar is that all restaurants, cafes, snack bars and so have curtains all around in respect for those who are fasting and when the drums echoes in the Mosques' speakers the curtains open and we witness the moment of berbuka (fast break). We were told that Ramadan seems to be suffering from the same evil as Christmas. It's getting a bit too commercial and people are 'called' to consume leaving the spiritual cleansing aside.
Today while in the angkot to the city center we were surprised by someone speaking Portuguese to us. Jerson (if I got it right) is from East Timor and is at the moment living in Jakarta. I was particularly enchanted by this person (so far away from Portugal or other Portuguese speaking place) sharing the same language. We chit chatted all the way until we got out. It was a very pleasant talk and in the end I felt very curious about getting to know East Timor. He is from Dili and is a Franciscan seminarist. He told us that a lot of people speak Portuguese there and that since Ramos Horta is president, East Timor has developed a lot. What a fine encounter, we might visit East Timor one of these days!
Sampai nanti everyone!
