Day 46, Friday 24 April
Today marks the start of Ramadan 2020. It sure will be a different kind of Ramadan this year. The essence of Ramadan is still the same of course, Muslims will still fast, abstain and pray. Although this year they will not be able to enjoy all the big social gatherings, family iftars and gatherings within their larger community which normally would be what keeps them going throughout this month.
All the mosques are closed, the hotels and restaurants are not celebrating with huge buffets, there will be no Ramadan tents outside peoples homes and the rules about social distancing are still in place. This Ramadan, my Muslim friends are still positive though, and have said they will use all their extra time for more reflection.
I have had a day of reflection as well.
I have been feeling rather lonely lately, not just physically in this isolation, but otherwise as well. These past weeks at home, I have been checking in with my friends here, there and everywhere; phoning, Zooming and texting; but very few have checked in on me. Today that got me a bit down, which spiraled into negative thoughts about just about everything, and reading this article about how it feels like we are drowning in time didn't help either. The author asking herself "what good is life if we can't live it?" really resonated with me today.
I so miss living life, not just living this Groundhog Day over and over again with slight variations; but even not just living my normal Abu Dhabi life... but life! Life with nature and seasons, life with friends, people and celebrations, life with activities, happenings and variety, just LIFE! I love life here when I'm working, but honestly that is not even half of the year. I love life here because we are able to travel (which means life elsewhere than here... *duh*). But life here-here, not so much. No surprise (normal thoughts for this time of the year) but it's something I have been thinking about more and more during this time. Reflection, sometimes it's enlightening.
Day 47, Saturday 25 April
In good news today, we are now allowed to leave our houses for exercising outside! Of course with some restrictions, up to two hours a day, no more than three people together and we still need to wear a mask, but - yay! I still prefer my treadmill+TV combination but maybe in the afternoons there will be a few walks, at least before it gets too hot anyway to be outside.
Still no weekend feeling really here. The days just roll into each other, it feels like April was just the same day over and over again, pretty much; can't believe it's May already next week. Crazy times.
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