Summer-Ramadan Collision

Mamma Mia - Great Gatsby - Almost Famous - The Notebook - Vintage Summer on google

Summer has always been viewed as one of the greatest seasons there is. Well, I agree. My country is a tropical country because we are placed in the equator, therefore the whole year is pretty much summer for us. But, it wouldn't be fair for the crops if there weren't any rain, would it? So yes, we also have 'winter' here, but we call it rainy season. And we call summer, dry season. Dry season is on April - September, and rainy season is on October - March. But even though these two seasons are separated, they tend to clash into one another. For instance, last week it was bloody hot in the afternoon, but it rained heavily in the evening. In Indonesian, it's called pancaroba (the switch from dry to rainy season, or vice versa). At this time of the year, we have to take care of our body with extra care because sudden weather changes sucks.

Anyway, this year's dry season sort of sucks due to Ramadan and summer colliding. FYI, Ramadan is a period of time where Muslims fast for 30 days (yes 30 days). We fast between sunrise and sun dawn, which is why this summer sucks. When you think of summer, it's all ice cream, lemonade, popsicles, popcorns, smoothies, coconut, and those oh-so-cool drinks and meals. Summer is also the time for theme parks, water parks, zoos, abroad visits, etc. Because of the collision, us Muslims cannot really enjoy the summery drinks and meals.

But you know what bothers me (and probably all other adolescent Muslims as well), is having to fast during the holidays. Yes. I hate fasting on weekends, let alone holidays! At school, we spend about 7 hours of chatting, learning, and all other stuffs. But during the holidays, what are we supposed to do??? I planned a few things I am going to do during Ramadan (if I don't, mum's going to talk about how unproductive I am the whole month and it's really annoying). If you guys are confused of what to do during this summer-Ramadan collision, check out my list:

1. Swimming at 4.30 pm - sun dawn. Not only it stretches out your bones, but also very refreshing!

2. Painting. I'm going to buy a few canvases today, and a new set of acrylic paint & brushes (because I brought mines to school, and everything brought to school is either lost, or broken).

3. DIY Lip Scrubs. My lips get dry because of not drinking, so I use petroleum jelly before I go out & before I go to bed. But apparently, the petroleum jelly's not working very long so I decided to use lip scrubs. Lip scrubs are expensive, and I wanted to make my own. I got the recipe from here. Of course, I advice you to make these either before sun rise, or after sun dawn because you have to have taste them first. These lip scrubs are edible, so make sure to not eat them hehehe.

4. Pretty Little Liars Marathon. I haven't watch PLL for a while, and having a marathon would seem pretty awesome. But then again, having marathons without munching isn't satisfying. Well, sometimes you just gotta make sacrifices (sacrifice the eating, not the fasting!)

5. Make an 8tracks playlist. Trust me, finding songs that are going in your playlist is hard work.

6. Do photo shoots. Stroll around the town and take photos of you, your friends, the town, the things around the town. It might get tiring, but it'll be worth it once you take the hot tea sip at sun dawn.

7. Be a tourist. Take a cheap tour package of your own town with a friend.

8. Cook. Yes! Cook! Mum just bought an oven for me at home, so prepare for bundles of cookies and cakes on my instagram. If you're planning to make cookies, make a bunch of them and send them to your friends.

9. Redecorate your room. My room is covered with posters from magazines, and I am planning of adding more posters. Printing large resolutions of band gig announcements are cool, or an album cover. I am planning The Smiths & Arctic Monkeys.

10. Learn a new instrument (or piece). Due to the memories (and a list of songs) a person gave me, I've been practicing Hey There Delilah on my ukulele. Also, I watched a video of David Archuleta's A Thousand Miles performance while he was in Jakarta, so I decided to re-practice it on my piano.

11. Visit bazaars, clearance sales, etc. During Ramadan, there's pretty much sales everywhere! SO it's time to get your shopping attire on, cause we are going shopping.

12. Work or Volunteer. Find a place where they accept volunteers or interns to work. New friends, new surroundings, new experience. Bonus points if you actually got paid due to your excellent intern work!

I don't think I'll be able to do every thing on this list, though, because I have other plans as well. But these are a few things I have in mind. Check out these awesome pictures of Ramadan in India! I have such a woobly heart for Ramadan & Ied :) Have a great Wednesday, dearest lovers. I hope you guys are having an OK day!