Re:Conversion

The rest of Day 1 went really well….except for the first taraweeh attempt. That was a swing and a miss, but I’ll get there eventually.

The day continued with my lovely girlfriend teaching me how to correctly pronounce Sura Al Fatihah. It was really a lot of work as Arabic is pronounced totally differently and I feel like poor Ollie was fighting a losing battle at times. Here’s what I ended up with….

Bismillahhere rahmannear Raheem Alhumdooleelaahee rabeel aalameen Arrahmannear Raheem Ma lickyo middeen Iyyaka nahboodoo wa-eeya Ca-nass-taa-in Ihdinass sirataal mustakeem Sirata lazeena anAAamta AAalayhim goyareal magahdoobi AAalayhim walaad daaalleen Amen

That took me pretty close to maghrib at 8:30, so I prayed and then went out for a fish dinner.

I have several goals this Ramadan. One is to re-build my soul and become a better Muslim. Another is to rebuild my body with a diet of only food Allah has provided us.

I had grilled fish with brown rice and steamed spinach. I also had a smoothie made from pineapple, mango, and strawberries.

Then I went to the mosque for taraweeh. I thought it was directly after maghrib, but I learned it was after isha. The problem was isha was at 10:30 and I was already on my last legs. I knew I stuck out as the tall white guy by myself and I didn’t want to pass out and take out a bunch of fellow Muslims, so I left to get some sleep.

I woke up on time this morning in order to eat and pray fajr. My breakfast was 11 dates and 1.5 liters of water. I’m not so much hungry as dizzy and a bit weak.

For fajr, I found a YouTube video to follow. I did all the movements and was able to say some of the words.

Tonight, I plan on going to the mosque for taraweeh. I’m hoping to get some pictures and document my journey.