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I got a midterm this Monday or TOMORROW to be exact and I ended up writing this blog…duhh~ Since I’m not yet in Raya-mode (due to the unwanted exams this week), let me reminisce my memories on the last Eid, hoping that I can gain my Raya-spirit back.

In case you forget, Muslims in Malaysia celebrated the 1st of Syawal on Saturday the 13th, but who cares….haha. I or we, the Lafayettese were lucky enough to celebrate the Eid on Friday, one day earlier than most of the countries including our fellow neighbor Bloomington (which is like in the same state, Indiana). So on the early morning of Eid, as usual, I woke up and straight away went to the toilet and took my bath as if there was someone else is gonna conquer the bathroom. And that’s when I missed those time when I need to queue up every Eid morning in my grandma’s house because of ‘terlajak tdo’ and I need to boil water or else I will end up screaming in the toilet or might suffer from ‘hypothermia’ (thanks to hanif for the term..).

Then, as early as 7 am, off I went to class. Yes, class at 7.30 am on a freezing Friday morning which happen to be Eid ul-Fitr. On my way to class, which this time felt like 5km away, I sang Raya-songs to cheer me up. I was like managed to sing the whole Raya-album before I reached my English class (fine, it’s too exaggerated but it’s quite a number ok!). As usual, nothing interesting happened in the class but that class ended quite early so, I headed to Brownstone 101, the public-welfare house for Malaysian students (haha, it’s the sophomore’s apartment), hoping that there’s something special to be eat.

When I arrived there, the guys were going out to attend Eid prayer so I took off with them to the hall with an empty stomache(ouch..). Realized that I haven’t had my wudu’ yet, I went to the toilet and as you know, it’s quite difficult to have wudu’ in a public toilet but I try to make it fast since the prayer was already started. As soon as I entered the prayer hall, the Imam was already citing doa.Shoot, I’ve missed the prayer and I need to wait for like a year for this prayer again. So I just sat at one corner of the hall, listening to the khutbah while thinking of my routine on every Eid morning with my family (fine fine, I’m not listening to the khutbah, but I’ve missed the prayer already so its not a problem right?). Finally, the moment that I waited the most, makan time! And for the first time in my life, I ate a slice of cheese cake and a bunch of grapes( I can’t recall the ‘penjodoh bilangan’ for grapes) on an Eid morning. No more, ketupat, lemang, chicken and beef rendang, chicken curry, sambal goreng, kuih raya, etc. And at that moment, I really felt like what am I doing here?? I’m supposed to celebrate Eid with my beloved family but where in the world am i right now? And lucky me not to burst in tears in front of the people.

Ok wait, it’s not finished yet. I need to clarify the most important thing happened that day. Saini has cooked a tremendously delicious beef-rendang the night before and boiled the home made nasi impit which we made together, and I ate them ‘dengan terharu sekali’. That has really ‘mengubat rindu’ on an Eid morning. Soon after that, I’m back as a dedicated Purdue student with classes, homeworks, etc.

So what can I conclude here is, Raya di perantauan is only on the morning. No open houses nor graves to be visited. And I’m about to experience it once again this coming Tuesday or Wednesday. I’m not complaining nor being childish. Just wanna share it with my fellow friends so that they would appreciate every single moments they got to share with families and relatives. Still hoping that we will once again celebrate Eid a day earlier so that it’s not gonna be an Eid ul-Exam day. Since my salam perantauan is not yet on newspaper, let me wish all of you selamat hari raya here:

Di kesempatan ini, saya ingin mengucapkan Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri kepada keluarga,sanak saudara, rakan taulan, jiran tetangga dan seluruh umat Islam. Semoga ia dapat membawa rahmat dah kebaikan kepada kita. Maaf jika ada tersalah kata, terkasar bahasa, tersilap bicara. Semoga kita dapat bertemu kembali dengan Ramadan tahun hadapan insya allah. Assalamualaikum!