“When I first moved here, I fasted following the local time, but then my sleeping pattern got disrupted. I had iftar [breaking of the fast] at 10 p.m., but I couldn’t eat much so I had to wait ‘til the food went down first because I have a digestion problem and then for imsak [predawn] at 3 a.m., I had to do the same thing again. I had a lack of sleep because of that and it made me weak,” said Putri Rahmalyna, who has lived in Amsterdam, Holland, since 2012.

Afraid that fasting will ruin her routine -- since she still has to go to work, cycling for 10 minutes to the nearest train station to commute regularly to her office -- she decides to follow the Indonesia time for fasting. “Now I no longer follow local time and break my fast at 7 p.m.”

In Tromsø, Norway, Indonesian citizen Retno Aini has the same problem. She said that the hardest thing to do in Ramadhan is to adjust her sleeping time and allocate a special time for tarawih (evening prayers). 

(Read also: Muslims in Reykjavik fast the longest compared to other cities)

“Because we have 24 hours of daylight, it interferes with our natural sleep pattern. Right after tarawih, we need to go to sleep in order to be able to wake up on time for sahur [predawn meal]. However, because the sun was still shining even at 10 p.m., our bodies found it difficult to sleep early. We feel tired but not sleepy enough because of the sunlight,” she said. “Fortunately, sometimes we can solve this problem by using thick drapes for our bedroom windows.”

Another challenge faced by Indonesian Muslims living in the northern hemisphere is the weather. While those living in Europe are blessed with mild summer weather, others who live on other continents consider the hot weather one of the hardest challenges to deal with.

“It’s hard because it’s long and hot. During summer, the temperature can reach 40 degrees Celsius,” said Hanif Amin who lives in Toronto, Canada. This Ramadhan, Hanif doesn’t reduce his activities and he still conducts his internship program from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Despite the long day, Hanif still manages to play soccer before he breaks his fast.

Meanwhile, those who live in the southern hemisphere face other challenges this Ramadhan.

“I was the only one who practices fasting here. I had sahur alone and the situation isn’t like when I spent Ramadhan in my hometown in Banyuwangi [in East Java] where everyone is fasting. Here it is very quiet,” said Tari Morlanes, who moved to Darwin, Australia, to follow her husband.

“There is no azan [call for prayer] here. We depend on mobile apps, such as Muslim Pro, to know when imsak/subuh and maghrib are,” said Hangga Ady, a postgraduate student in Melbourne, Australia. In this city, Hangga lives with his wife and his 5-year-old daughter.  “And now is winter, with temperatures ranging between 10 to 14 degrees Celsius. However, we can tackle it by wearing winter coats when we go out."

“The important thing is that the fasting time is shorter compared to Indonesia,” he said. “It is about 11 hours; imsak is at 5:58 a.m. and maghrib at 5:09 p.m.” (kes)

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