Fasiga

Fasiga

     It always makes me happy whenever I do it. It’s the best moment of the year that everyone feels so glad when he or she finishes fasting. Also, I feel so happy when I fast because I am the only one who fasts in my family. It’s funny though; I have a lot of family and none of them fast even though they are all Christians. I started fasting when I was twelve years old because I started going to church at the age of twelve, but we are supposed fast at that age, of seven. However, I didn’t do it at that age because I have a family that never fasts or goes to church all the time. That means I am the luckiest person in this world because I got to celebrate Fasiga by fasting and believing “that the lord is my father”. What helped me through fasting the fifty-five days was my friends who also fasted with me and motivated me to finish the fasting.  The part of my culture that has been lost in translation since I arrived in the U.S. is celebrating a traditional holiday called Fasiga by fasting, going to church and family gathering.       

         The most important part of my cultural holiday that has been lost in translation since I arrived in the U.S., is celebrating Fasiga by fasting. To fast in Fasiga, people in Eritrea will not eat from morning until three pm this is done for the next fifty-five days. The other thing is that the people who are fasting cannot eat dairy foods. Fasting in America is hard for me and for anyone because the food we like to eat is mostly dairy products. However it can be very hard avoiding the delicious foods I cannot eat. As for other Eritreans, fasting can be hard because they have work and they must eat dairy foods in order to have strength to work.  Additionally, in Eritrea it is very easy to fast because when fasting starts, all the meat stores will be closed because no one will buy meat and so avoiding meat is not a problem. Not only that but dairy products are not as available in Eritrea as opposed to in America, so fasting is not challenging. For these reasons fasting has been lost in translation because people cannot fast all the time and so people forget about that part of the tradition.

     The other aspect of Fasiga that has been lost in translation is attending church. In Eritrea, people go to church straight for fifty-five days when the fasting starts and it is not hard or challenging to do it there. This is because in Eritrea, churches are opened for twenty-four hours a day and old folks do not work.  They are very likely to go to church with their children or grandchildren. In the U.S. it is very challenging to even go to church for a week straight, because Eritreans are very busy whether they have to work, go to school, or do other activities. In America, not only is it hard to go every day, the church is closed on weekdays because they know that people cannot come those days. Therefore, that tradition of going to church for fifty-five days has been lost since I arrived in Chicago. 

     On  the last Friday of fasting, which is called Good Friday, families gather to work and do the following, change the furniture including the bed, the TV, and other appliances from where it was to a different direction because in the afternoon the family will go to church until seven pm. In the U. S is not the case where families gather to work, when Eritrean families gather together they are together for a limited time because in most cases the kids have school for example, and the parents might have work. The most important day of Fasiga is Sunday also known as Easter day, and that is when all the gathering of families means so much and the story telling, the joking, the laughing, and the eating of meat and all kinds of other foods happen. People wear only new clothes, do their hair, invite friends and neighbors just for that special once a year day.  Families celebrate the true meaning of Fasiga by having a great time with each other. But in America the gathering of families is not nearly as cultural gathering. 

     In conclusion, the tradition of celebrating Fasiga the way it is truly meant to be celebrated by fasting for fifty-five days, going to church straight for fifty-five days, and having a big family gathering  has been slowly disappearing since, I arrived in Chicago. Although some of the tradition of Fasiga has been lost in translation, we will always celebrate it they the ways it is supposed to be in our hearts and my family will know and cherish the moment we have truly celebrated it. Fasting for me is a tradition that is always going to be apart of my life because it makes me happy knowing that I am doing the right thing and no matter what the consequence is.