It is that time of the year again. At the stroke of midnight last Friday night, this year's month of Ramadan began.

Living in Jakarta, the city with the largest Muslim population in the world where people are very devout, it can be a little bit of a culture shock when you first get here.

I've been here 7 years in October, so over the years I have gotten used to most of their ways, including understanding what Religion is to them and how it is woven into their daily lives.

Many people have understandable concerns and misconceptions about this religion.

 Radical Islamists have clearly seen to that. Their global "reign of terror" has affected just about each and every person around the world in one way or another...unless you are an indigenous Indian living in the very heart of the Amazon jungle.

I had many concerns myself when I first came to live here. My initiation to life in Jakarta started off with the terrible bombing in Bali. I was there when it happened and I flew to Jakarta the very next day...that's how frightened I was.

Over the years I have learned much about the normal, everyday Muslims here in Jakarta.

Their lives, their idealogies, their devoutness and also how their own Indonesian culture is intertwined with their Religion.

For the most part, I have found Indonesian muslims to be nothing like what the radical Islamists project muslims to be. Here, people are just as normal as you and me in most respects, except for their devotion to their faith.

What I mean is, the most Christian of Christians do not go to prayers at least 4 times a day. And they have a ritual that they go through before going into the mosque or prayer room. They have to wash their faces, hands and feet before prayers and the women have to put on those white head covers....pretty much like women used to do with veils in Catholic churches in the Philippines when I was little.

I bought one of these head covers for myself, only to wear on "bad hair" days..but I figured that was just a little bit disrespectful so I have never worn it....lol

The most devout Christians do not go for a period of one month fasting like they do during the month of Ramadan. (Of course, there are always exceptions...this is in general).

Contrary to the belief that Muslim men do not respect women, here I have found that the men do revere their women, they show more respect and "gentleman-liness" towards their women than I have witnessed in Western cultures in recent years.

Again, this is in general. In any and all societies, we all know there are those who do abuse women and regardless of the gravity or nature, abuse is abuse.

Indonesia even had a woman President before the current one took office. Many countries including Australia and the United States have not yet had their first woman leader.

The only time of the year I find a little bit difficult is during the month of Ramadan. But it is more to do with discomfort than anything else.

My main "discomfort" is...I live on a very short street, and right at the end of my street is one of the biggest mosques in the south side of Jakarta city. This is a picture of the mosque taken from my second floor balcony....that's how close I am to the darn thing.

They have the most incredible PA system with four loud-speakers which you can clearly see on that tower type structure alongside the main building. And one of those speakers is pointed straight at my house....!!!

At any other time of the year, these speakers blare out with calls to prayers 4 times a day. But during the month of Ramadan, it is almost non-stop and sometimes it almost drives me crazy. And then, the week after Ramadan...they call Idulfitri...well I just have to keep my ear phones on even during the night...until my ears start hurting that is....lol.

Not only do they have the chanting and the prayers, but they also have little kids with the most awful sounds and it is almost scary. They sound more like agonized, high pitch noises than anything else.

(I'm sorry, I've heard kids sing  and I think they sing very sweetly....but when its a whole bunch of kids trying to do that singing chanting thing....it really is terrible)

People go on a month of fasting, that means they cannot eat or drink anything between sunrise and sunset. So the mosque starts blaring at 4am in the morning...to signal everyone to get up and have as much to eat as they can, because they wont be eating anything again until after the sun goes down. I really dont have a problem with this part...if they prepare themselves for it or have lived with it all their lives and cope with it....who are we to stay they're stupid or whatever.

And then in the evening, when the sun goes down, some areas...mine included, make the announcement that it is now time to eat by exploding fireworks, which pisses me off because it scares my cats to death. They have to go through this every night for a whole month...I hate seeing them terrorized.

The one problem I do have...and I pointed this out to my maid this morning...is if they need to drink, I think they should be able to drink. It is terribly unhealthy to be working hard, sweating all day and not being able to replenish your fluids....and I told her if she needed to drink water, she must. She of course, just gave me a polite smile and said thanks and continued her working and sweating.

They do make allowances however, for old people and young children. And...I must add, this is very much a voluntary thing. There are no laws or punishments for those who do not participate in this one month of the year  sacrifice.

For instance, women who are pregnant, or women who are in that "time of the month" thing, they can opt to not participate or defer their "sacrifice" for when it is better suited to their personal circumstances. Most choose to defer rather than not participate at all...but it is still a personal choice.

Because people get up that early in the morning, and they do not eat anything during the day to keep up their normal strength, there are many lethargic people walking around, and it affects their work. It has become an "accepted" thing where allowances are made.... and of course there are also those lazy ones who take full advantage....lol.....I dont think we in the West are too unfamiliar with similar situations....if you can slack off and get away with it....well, we all get tempted from time to time...lol.

The other thing that bugs me just a little tiny bit is...because everyone is fasting, my regular fresh fruit and vegetable mini-markets dont roll down my street which means I have to go to the supermarket more often.....OOOOOOHHHH!!!!....lol....and my favorite "cholera carts" dont come around much either. I wonder what these people do for income during this time???

And speaking of supermarkets, those very few that do have items containing pork (like spam, bacon, ham, etc), all of a sudden these items disappear. Most supermarkets sell beer/wine but these too seem to get hidden in the very back corner of the store somewhere....not that it is completely banned...you just gotta hunt around for them...lol.

If you go to pubs/nightclubs/restaurants, they will not serve you alcohol because there are those nasty few people who go around acting like militia and cause problems if they catch proprietors serving alcohol and stick their hands out for bribes that will get you out of the pooh if they so desire.

At the expat club/pub here in Jakarta that I sometimes frequent...which is a sports bar come restaurant...they serve your beer or spirits in coffee cups or mugs. It's hilarious. As if it will stop the "militia" from having a sniff or a taste and find you are indeed drinking alcohol.

I have to say though...these situations with the pubs and especially the five star hotels, this sort of practise has diminished to almost zero in the last few years.

So...I have to go through another month of this...maybe for the last time....but its all cool.

WELCOME TO JAKARTA