Helena Wang

Ramadan Day 15 (April 6, 2023):

Today was hectic to say the least. My mom was throwing a huge party where many people were coming to our house to break their fast. So of course, the whole day was taken up in cooking, cleaning, getting ready and more. It was exhausting to say the least. The worst part about it was, there was such good food all around, and it was so tempting to have to be in the kitchen for so long.

After many hours of hard work, I finally got a break and was able to rest for a little bit. I watched my Ramadan drama episode of the day, prayed and read Quran. After that I got ready for the party, and began working on our last minute decorations. Once that was all done, we waited for our guests to arrive.

I had a really good time at the party, and got to enjoy my moms amazing food that she only makes for parties. Once everyone left, we then had to clean everything up so we were unable to go to Taraweeh.

Ramadan Day 16 (April 7, 2023):

Today was Friday, so we had a lot to do. It also made me realize that spring break was coming to an end. I started to feel like I didn’t complete much school work during spring break. Also since my day to day routine was almost the same everyday, it really started to feel like I did nothing at all over spring break.

After showering and getting ready for the Friday prayer, I went to the mosque. Once we listened to the Khutbah, or sermon, we prayed. Once we finished, I went to run some errands with my mom, but we were both incredibly tired. I started to really feel the affects of my fast.

The rest of the day went by very slowly, and I felt very hungry, exhausted and tired. This was definitely one of the hardest fasts I have had to go through yet.

Ramadan Day 17 (April 8, 2023):

It was a big day today. Today, we were having the huge Al Salam Foundation fundraising Gala event that happens annually during the month of Ramadan. As one of the lead volunteers for this event, that meant I had a lot of work to do. I met with the volunteer team over zoom, so we had a pretty basic understanding of everything that needed to be done.

I got to the event center at 5 p.m. The event wasn’t to start until 6:30. So in that time, we set up, got everything ready and made sure everything was all good. I was working the check-in table today. I worked with the volunteer task supervisor to make sure everything for the registration was ready.

Although the event was to start at 6:30, many people came much later than that. There were over 400 people registered for this event, and we also had many walk ins. It was incredibly busy, but fun at the same time. I finished checking people in at around 7:50, where I then went inside the main hall and found a table with my friends. I had a really good time, and was even able to meet new people.

Ramadan Day 18 (April 9, 2023):

Today was the day before spring break ended, so it was depressing to say the least. To top it all off, I had horrible allergies. When I woke up for Sehri, my head was throbbing and I could not breathe through my nose at all. I had a lot of trouble sleeping as well. It was going to be an incredibly hard fast today.

When I woke up after Sehri, since I was sick, I felt horrible. It was very hard to get anything done and I actually needed to finalize stuff before going back to school. I trudged through the horrendous amount of work that I had procrastinated throughout the rest of the week. After I finally finished, I laid in bed all day, just feeling horrible. I could not take medicine, so it was just horrible.

Today, my parents were going to a iftar party, so it was just my sister and I at home. We ordered sushi, and I was ecstatic, since sushi is one of my favorite foods. It was delicious, and really made me feel better after a long day of fasting.

Ramadan Day 19 (April 10, 2023):

Since it was the first day back from spring break, I was stressed to say the least. I woke up at Sehri, and honestly did not feel too tired, so I was very hopeful. However, when I got up for school, I was so tired, I couldn’t focus on anything. I also started to feel hungry in the mornings again, which only usually happens during the first few days.

Luckily, I survived through the day, and to be honest it was not horrible. I got home, and although I had enough energy to complete my homework assignments. However, I decided to procrastinate it until after iftar. I talked to my sister for a bit, took my Quran lesson for the day and watched some TV for the rest of the day until sunset.

Today, I was going on a picnic with my sister and brother-in-law for iftar. My brother-in-law brought these delicious burgers that he made for us to eat. After that, we got ice cream and went home. I began on my work, which mainly entailed studying for my AP exam. I had five exams in the next seven days, so that was something else that I had to get started on.

Ramadan Day 20 (April 11, 2023):

I again, was extremely tired and groggy throughout the morning. Luckily, in my AP Human Geography class, we were just watching a documentary so it was good for me to not have to focus as much. There is only 10 days left in Ramadan, which is absolutely mind blowing.

The last 10 days of Ramadan are the most sacred days in this month. Particularly during the odd nights of these last 10 days. In one of these odd nights is when it is said the Quran to have been revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. This is called Laylat-ul Qadr, or the Night of Power. The Quran does not tell us exactly which night it will be on, but it has narrowed down for us into these 5 nights. It is said that if you are to worship and make prayer during that night, then it is equivalent of doing 83 years worth of worship. So as you can tell, this is a huge deal for us Muslims.

Once I got home from school, I actually ended up doing some of my homework before iftar, which was a major accomplishment for me. Today, it was just my parents and I eating, so it did feel kind of sad. After iftar, I went back to studying for my tests and began writing essays for other classes.

Ramadan Day 21 (April 12, 2023):

Most of Ramadan for me has gone super well. However, that all has changed now that allergy season has started. I have horrible allergies every year, but this year it is incredibly bad this year. My eyes were bloodshot, and everyone just kept asking me if I had been crying, it looked so bad.

After doing all of my school work, going through the horrible fact of having my eyes burning for the majority of the day. I was planning on doing homework after school, but I was unable to focus at all. Today after a long while I was able to take a nice long nap. That turned out to be a mistake though, because of the amount of work I had.

After eating a delicious iftar, I was able to get through some homework, but my eyes would not let me do some work. I was in so much pain, that I decided to procrastinate it until tomorrow and went to sleep.

More diary entries available here.

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