By Amirah Ahmad 劉宇佳 注

Grocery trips have never been as painful as they are now.

The hunger that makes its presence known with a vicious grow^l can only indicate one thing: Ramadan is here.²

The holiest month of the year, Ramadan is a period of time in which Muslims around the world fast and reflect on their spirituality.³ Ramadan is a time to devoutly practice and emphasize the three of the five key components of Islam: fasting, praying recitation of the Holy Quran, and giving charity.⁴ This isn’t to say that these principles are not highly regarded during the regular months, however Ramadan is a holy month where Muslims are encouraged to reevaluate their lives as Muslims. This is a time for purification⁵ of the soul and reconnection to God. Furthermore, this spiritual reflection comes with self-sacrifice⁶.

Muslims over the age of 18 who have stable health are obligated to⁷ fast. This means that from sunrise to sunset, Muslims refrain from⁸ eating and drinking. Thus, my typical schedule is as follows:

4:00 a.m.: Wake up and pray 4:25 a.m.: Head downstairs to eat in preparation for the fast 4:40 a.m.: Come upstairs, pray, and go to bed 11:00 a.m.-8:30 p.m.: Carry out regular duties, say my prayers, read the Quran, and read Islamic books 8:30 p.m.: Open the fast and eat dinner 12:00 a.m.: Go to bed

As you can see, my sleeping schedule has been disrupted⁹ but that’s a little price to pay for spiritual reflection. What’s more bothersome¹⁰, however, is the hunger and the thirst during such a hot month of July. Though I refrain from rigorous¹¹ physical activity and spending time outside, the days I’m working at the dog resort are most difficult. My job requires me constantly stepping outside for short 5 minute walks with each of the dogs. What’s more, I typically have to ascend two flights of stairs just to get to the main yard where we walk the dogs.¹² Climbing an average of 50 steps of stairs for every dog, and walking nearly 15 dogs 3 times a day in humid 85 degree Fahrenheit weather, you can assume I get thirsty.¹³

Even running errands can be brutal.¹⁴ A trip to the mall to return or purchase an item is never complete without sniffing the delicious smells that permeate from the dozens of restaurants and fast food joints.¹⁵ Passing by the food court, I can even hear the sizzle of fried rice or beef on the grill from Panda Express and the divine cinnamon and sugar aroma coming from the Cinnabon shop legitimately makes my mouth water.¹⁶ The grocery store, however, may be the most torturous¹⁷ of all destinations.

The colorful isles filled with cartons and boxes of cookies, crackers, cereals, candy, chips, bread, and more are all too tempting.¹⁸ We all know what we end up with when grocery shopping with an empty stomach: a full shopping cart. Everything I can possibly desire I stack in my shopping cart, which isn’t the best decision considering my cravings are all junk food.¹⁹ What’s more, I occasionally simply skip the produce section since it doesn’t look nearly as appealing as that carton of coffee ice cream with swirls of fudge and balls of cookie dough in the next isle.²⁰ Come time for opening the fast, however, I regret my unhealthy decisions as I look upon a counter filled with junk food and nothing to nourish my hungry stomach.²¹

Despite these daily dilemmas²², however, Ramadan has given me the opportunity to reflect. As I sit at my desk working on the computer, hearing nothing but my hunger growls, I realize just how grateful I really am. Not only can I eat food whenever I need, I can eat food whenever I want. What’s more, the clothes on my back and the shoes on my feet are blessings in themselves.

I have everything to be grateful for. My appreciation for my life came as an epiphany²³. In fact, it came as soon as I woke up from a nap²⁴. About two weeks ago, I fell asleep on the couch after a tiring day at work. An hour and a half later, I awoke to an eerie stillness in my house.²⁵ Considering there are five other family members residing in the same house as me, this lack of activity caught me off guard²⁶ when I suddenly realized I was home alone. Just to check, I walked over to the door leading to the deck²⁷. That was unlocked. Surprised that my family would leave it unlocked, I locked it. I checked the garage²⁸ door, which was also unlocked. I locked it. Hoping that my family had at least the decency to ensure the front door was locked, I walked over to the front door. Unlocked.

Although I was angry at the carelessness of my family members, the incident made me realize how lucky I truly was to live in an area where a girl can safely sleep in her abandoned house alone with all gateways open.

Along with this new thankfulness of life, I have found time to cleanse my soul. I have come to realize that fasting does not only cleanse the physical body, but also the spiritual. As I draw back from the hustle and bustle²⁹ of regular life, I reflect on the more important things. It’s refreshing to take a step back, just so that you can step back into life on the right foot.

Vocabulary

1. Ramadan: 齋月，是伊斯蘭教歷第九個月，因教義規(guī)定穆斯林在該月履行齋戒功課而定名，是穆斯林修煉心性的宗教活動。

2. 如果人們饑餓到極點，任憑腸胃咕咕地狂叫也不吃東西，那只能說明一件事情：齋月來了。vicious: 邪惡的；growl: 咆哮。

3. holiest: （holy的最高級形式）最為神圣的；fast: v. 禁食；reflect on: 反思；spirituality: 精神，靈性。

4. devoutly: 虔誠地；recitation: 背誦；Quran: 《古蘭經》，又譯《可蘭經》，作為伊斯蘭教的根本經典，是教主穆罕默德在23年傳教過程中陸續(xù)宣布的“安拉啟示”匯集。該詞為“宣讀”，“誦讀”之意，表示復述真主的話語。

5. purification: 凈化。

6. self-sacrifice: 自我犧牲。

7. be obligated to: 有責任，有義務。

8. refrain from: 克制，忍住。

9. disrupt: 破壞，中斷。

10. bothersome: 麻煩的，令人討厭的。

11. rigorous: 嚴格的。

12. ascend: 爬； flight of stairs：樓梯的一段。

13. 在華氏85度潮濕的天氣里，我每天要遛大概15只狗，一天三次，而且每次遛狗都要爬50個臺階。可想而知，我有多么口渴。humid: 潮濕的；degree Fahrenheit: 華氏溫度。

14. run errand: 跑跑腿；brutal: 殘忍的。

15. sniff: 聞；permeate: 滲透，彌漫。

16. 路過美食街時，我甚至可以聽到熊貓快餐的烤架上炒飯或牛肉的嘶嘶聲，面包店里噴香的肉桂和糖香讓我不由地直流口水。sizzle: 嘶嘶聲；grill: 烤架；Panda Express: 熊貓快餐，美國著名的中餐館；cinnamon: 肉桂。

17. torturous: 折磨人的。

18. isle: 小島，這里指一個個食品區(qū)；cracker: 咸餅干；cereal: 谷類食品；tempting: 吸引人的，有誘惑的。

19. 我把所有想要的東西都堆在購物車里，雖然這并非最好的選擇——因為都是一些垃圾食品。stack: 堆積；craving: 渴望。

20. 此外，我有時會直接跳過農產品區(qū)，因為相比下一區(qū)那些帶有軟糖的成盒的咖啡冰淇淋和球形曲奇餅而言，這些東西看上去并不是那么吸引人。produce: 農產品；fudge: 軟糖；cookie dough: 曲奇餅。

21. counter: 柜臺；nourish: 提供營養(yǎng)。

22. dilemma: 困境。

23. epiphany: 對事物真諦的頓悟。

24. nap: 小睡。

25. eerie: 可怕的；stillness: 寂靜。

26. catch sb. off guard: 讓某人措手不及。

27. deck: （房屋的）露天平臺。

28. garage: 車庫。

29. hustle and bustle: 喧鬧，熙熙攘攘。

（來源：英語學習雜志 編輯：祝興媛）