In this article, I share my story about celebrating Ramadan in Colombia and its experience. But first a bit about Islam and Ramadan. Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in the world, and specifically in Latin America. Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection where hundreds of millions of Muslims worldwide fast from sunrise to sunset.
As my regular readers probably know, I spent about half of 2020 living in Colombia, and I learned a lot of Spanish. Sidenote — Though I must confess my Spanish is not as crisp as it was, I’m still able to communicate and understand comfortably. During most of my time in the lockdown, I got to know my area, neighbours, and people in the local community much better. Before I continue, I’d like to share some interesting facts I found researching Islam in Colombia and as a whole.
– Indonesia is the country with the largest Muslim population with a population of 270 million.
– The Colombian Muslim population is less than 0.1%
– Argentina is the largest Muslim Latin American country with around 400,000 in total.
Is that a Hijab?
It was a typical day in Medellin, the sun shining and street vendors saying in their microphones “Aguacate” (Avocados). I was eating lunch on my balcony, which just so happened to be avocados and plantain—a sick combo. The avocados in Colombia are totally different compared to any I had ever tasted in the UK. They are creamy, olive green and big… I mean really big.
Waiting patiently under the table was Gino, our house dog, hoping for any scraps to land on the floor for him to clean up with his mouth. Whilst enjoying my meal, avoiding eye contact with Gino, and people-watching, I saw a woman walking her dog and wearing a hijab. “A Hijab… In Colombia,” I thought to myself.
A hijab is a head covering worn by some Muslim women. I was surprised. After all, I was in a country where Islam isn’t practised on any significant scale; rather, Christianity/Catholicism is the main religion. She smiled and waved, and I responded likewise.
The invite
It was nearing the end of April, and Ramadan was about to commence. I normally like to fast during this period for health and well-being benefits, despite not associating myself with any religion for various historical and current reasons. Though I respect and quite enjoy learning about religions in general. I already made a conscious decision not to fast that year due to everything happening with the lockdown. Instead, I opted to just give as much food as I could to those in need, and during the lockdown, there were many.
In fact, for almost the first forty days, a different person came knocking at our door for food or help. Old, young, families, individuals… you name it. This is part of why I disagree with lockdowns as a whole, not from just first-hand experience but also for the hidden dangers they cause, which I have written about here.
While going to my local shop to buy some essentials, I bumped into Samia, the lady I saw earlier, and Jose, her partner. We got to chatting, exchanged numbers, and I found out they live in one of the apartments close to me. As I got to see them more often, they invited me around to celebrate Eid with them and their friends. Eid is the celebration day to mark the end of fasting, so it’s a big thing.
The Feast
The day before the Eid celebrations, I cooked some fried rice and vegetables to share among them. I purposely didn’t put any pepper in the food as Colombians can’t do spicy at all. Here’s a little video of the work of art.
In the afternoon the next day, I packed the food in a container, wore a nice shirt, and made my way to the feast. Jose opened the door and said, “Bienvenidos” (welcome). There were balloons and stickers on the wall reading “Eid Mubarak,” and their friends were in the living room laughing and chatting away.
I was quickly offered a drink, and shortly after, in the middle of the room, Samia set out the food for all to share. “Grab a plate,” Jose said. You don’t need to tell me twice when it comes to helping myself with food. We ate hummus, assorted meats, rice and vegetables. Samia also set out the fried rice I made earlier, so we got to try some of that, and they really enjoyed it. We ate, drank and spoke about different topics like life in Colombia, travel, and how West Ham is the best football team in the Premier League (smile). I felt fortunate to be part of the celebration. Not only because of the rarity in terms of the odds but also the sheer experience.
