I find this article very disheartening.

Last night started Ramadan, the Islamic holy month. 

We’ve been warned that this is a time of increased violence in the region.  This does nothing to mollify my anxiety.  I really, honestly, didn’t think I would be affected so much here.  This is not something that has started with the onset of Ramadan; it is something that’s been going on for a while now and really is the reason I haven’t been posting very much.  I have found it difficult to post because a lot of what occupies my mind on a daily basis is not fun and upbeat but rather depressing and anxiety-inducing.  I am aware that a lot of you who read this know me and worry about me, and I don’t want to aggravate that, but at the same time, you’re the same ones waiting to hear from me and checking every day to see if I’ve written anything new.  So - with that said, I will try to write more and you all can feel free to disregard anything that makes you uncomfortable. 

According to Wikipedia,

During Ramadan, Muslims are also expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam by refraining from sexual intercourse (during fasting), violence, anger, envy, greed, lust, angry and sarcastic retorts, and gossip.  People are meant to try to get along with each other better than they normally might.

I think, though, that the people here missed the part about refraining from violence and anger.

I remember last year, before coming here was even on the radar, reading in the news about the violence during Ramadan.  I had put it out of my head since then until now.

Now it’s in the forefront of my mind.  It started last night as we were preparing for our Saturday evening barbeque.  We see smoke on the horizon pretty frequently, but this was enough that everyone came out of the building - this was easily the closest plume of smoke I’ve seen in the time I’ve been here. 

…And this was not the car bomb that made headlines yesterday; that one was early in the day while this one was at dusk (I believe Ramadan begins at sundown).  The smoke was a lot thicker than it’s showing in this picture - you can see the reflection in the lake that shows how black and cloudy it was. 

I just found this article about that particular explosion.  Warning to sensitive readers - you might want to skip the article. 

We had movie night after our barbeque and as we watched 40 Year Old Virgin, we heard two mortars hit close enough that I think everyone felt a little uncomfortable (I felt uncomfortable enough to put on my shoes and think about where the nearest duck and cover bunker was.)  I don’t know if everyone just hides it really well, but I seem to be the most anxious person I know when it comes to that kind of stuff.  I’ve been very on edge and on multiple occasions have reacted in a way that surprised myself - I’m grateful that I’m to the halfway point here and am finally closer to leaving than I am of arriving.