On Hunger and Gratitude

A week into my Ramadan experience, at 11 o'clock on a working Monday morning, I'm hungry. And thirsty. And tired. But mostly hungry. This has very little to do with Ramadan and very much to do with the 3 days of travel I returned from last night. Travel exempts you from fasting, meaning I ate normally Friday through Sunday. And it's amazing how quickly your body adapts to changes in consumption habits. When I began this experiment last Monday I was HUNGRY all day. Tuesday I was only hungry in the last couple of hours before I could eat again. Wednesday and Thursday I didn't even think about food all day. But here it is Monday again, with 3 days of food under my belt (quite literally, I think, in the case of the enormous plate of battered, deep fried, local muscles I ate for dinner on Stewart Island Saturday), and I'm back to being HUNGRY again. Sigh. They weren't kidding over at the Toronto Islamic Society (where I went for guidance on what to do and not to do this month, via their website) when they said that Ramadan is an exercise in self-control and patience. Must be time to focus on all the things I'm grateful for today, rather than on all the things I'm not eating or drinking...

#1: I didn't lose my wallet this weekend.
#2: I survived 2 bumpy flights in a very small plane, and even almost enjoyed myself in the air.
#3: I managed to drive for hours and hours and hours (in snow and rain no less!) on the opposite side of the road than I'm used to, without once going into the wrong lane.
#4: I visited what has to be one of the most beautiful islands on earth.
#5: I completed 2 substantial hikes, in the mud, without totally killing my back.
#6: I didn't have to walk back to town in a hail storm.
#7: I had a fabulous travelling buddy who made all of the above endlessly more enjoyable!
#8: I have the health and freedom to choose to eat or not eat, whenever I want.
#9: I have family who, upon hearing that I was observing Ramadan this year, never once asked 'why?' and instead offered only encouragement and support.

I'm not going to elaborate on all of these right now...spreading them out a little will give me something to think about later on when it's normally time for lunch. Or afternoon tea. Or...right, back to the gratitude! For now, I think the happy story of #1 deserves to be shared!

I had my wallet all weekend, tramping through the incredible muck of Stewart Island. I had it at the airport terminal, where I paid for parking our rental car over the weekend. I didn't have it 15 minutes later, at the gas station where we stopped on our way out of town. Uh oh. I went through the car. Leanne went through the car. No wallet anywhere. We turned the car around and headed back to the airport. We pulled into the parking lot we'd left half an hour before in the pouring rain, as the sun was setting. No wallet in the parking space we'd vacated, or anywhere around it. We both got out of the car, started walking towards the terminal down different rows. Half way to the terminal I started to seriously panic - my passport (with both my New Zealand visa and my Korean visa inside), all of my ID, my credit cards, bank cards, driver's license, everything is in that wallet. Along with a couple of hundred dollars in cash since we'd been told there were no bank machines on Stewart Island (there weren't, but all the shops took debit cards). Just before crossing the last stretch before the terminal, Leanne let out a happy yelp and started jumping up and down. My very black wallet had landed on the only yellow patch of paint laid down in the entire parking lot, and was still there waiting for us with absolutely everything inside. What's more, even though the outside was soaking wet from the rain, inside, everything was bone dry. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

And on that note, I ought to get back to #10: I have work I love to do, which keeps me more than happily busy. More on #s 2 through 9 sometime soon!