19th February

The arrival of Ramadan can be noticed even by those who are unfamiliar with this month. Streets and buildings are decorated with colorful lanterns - Fanous - and lights are glowing the entire night. It resembles the hope and light, guiding hearts through nights of gratitude. This year, the school staff decided to invite students to experience this wonderful celebration.

The empty classroom was hard to recognize. Tables filled with different supplies replaced the usual atmosphere. Students could bring their wands, as they would need them to light their newly created lanterns. One table held glitter, markers, stamps, and other decorative elements. Another offered different types of paper in every possible color. There was even mosaic-style paper for those who didn't want to spend time on decoration.

Since creating and decoration might take quite some time, a table with drinks - coffee, tea, lemonades - as well as snacks like biscuits, was prepared for those who felt hungry. However, two things stood out on this table. First, there was nothing that contains alcohol. Second, there were dates, that are traditionally eaten throughout the entire month. And third, a sweet dark drink made from the tamarind fruit, Tamarind drink. This was done in honor of Ramadan, offering something unique.

To fill their newly created lanterns with a glowing light, students were welcome to use their wands to cast Lumos. Those who do not know this spell could ask other students for help, or approach a staff member, who will be glad to help. Perhaps it was a trick of the mind, but it seemed as though the glitter sparkled brighter whenever someone smiled. A few curious glances were exchanged, wondering whether the decorations had been charmed, or school itself was feeding on their joy.

Link to sign-ups: Fanous and Enchanted Ramadan

Being in Koldovstoretz gave Zephyr a whole new experience. Not only did he get to visit a new school and meet new people from different schools, but he was also able to create new memories, unforgettable ones, which he thought he wouldn't be able to experience if he stayed in his school. Aside from the competitions, he also gets to enjoy the Lunar New Year, which he and his friends attended just yesterday and today, he was made aware of another activity which again...he's interested to partake.

It was a lantern-making activity during Ramadan. It included free food and drinks for those who would like to join. He didn’t know much about the celebration, his knowledge of it was very limited, mostly from a boy at his primary school whose family were Muslim. Wanting to have someone with him, he asked his friends from his yurt if they wanted to come, and only Harumi expressed interest in trying it with him. He brought the school map with him and asked around where the activity was taking place. Participating in any cultural celebration is fascinating. The more he joins different celebrations and events, the more he realises he enjoys learning new traditions.

When they arrived, Zephyr's gaze fell on the tables filled with various decorative materials. He didn't know what the lanterns they were making were called, only that they were colourful. Going to one of the tables, he noticed there were so many options to choose from. There were mosaic-style papers, and there were also other papers that you can use if you want to create one from scratch. If you know him well, it's easy to discern what his choice would be, DIY of course! Deciding on the materials he would need, he grabbed several coloured paper (light purple, black), cellophane (dark purple, orange), paste, markers, and other supplies to execute his planned design. Truth is, he had never done this before but how hard can it be?

As he put his materials on the table, he noticed the other table with food and drinks. There was available tea, lemonade, biscuits, and dates, and there was something dark in a glass pitcher too. Curious about that, he went to inspect it, and it said tamarind drink. Now, that is something you don't see every day. He poured a small amount into a cup and took a sip to taste it. It was sweet and had this earthy taste, overall, he liked it. After getting some snacks in a small plate, he returned to the worktable and began his work.

He started by tracing some shapes on the black paper, which happened to be the roof of the mosque he had seen in his town. It made sense to him to choose that shape. He traced around the lantern shapes and cut around the edges and windows. Then, glue strips of cellophane to cover the windows. Finally, he punched a small hole at the top of the lantern with a pair of scissors, cut some strings, and tied them around the hole. He cut out small stars near the top so the light could shine through. Now that should do it! What am I supposed to do with this now? I need light...right?

He looked around and saw what they did, so he pulled his wand out and did the proper wand movement and cast "Lumos" on the base of the lantern. When the light appeared, the cellophane gave the lantern a nice glow. Orange, purple and black really were a good combination. It reflected through the star cutouts and onto his hands. He smiled widely, his dimple showing in his cheek, but what's odd was that, suddenly, the glow brightened even more. Woah...was that supposed to happen? Looking over at Harumi, "How's everything there? All good? Look at mine Harumi, it's glowing brighter!"

Reducio

After so many events and activities in the past few days, you would think Harumi is tired, annoyed, bored, and just wants to stay in her yurt all day, but, that couldn't be further from the truth, if anything, she seemed to gain more energy every time she learns of a new activity or such a thing.

----Zephyr had told her about the lantern making activity and she, obviously, agreed to go with him. She was excited to learn a new tradition from a new culture, and being bad at arts and crafts wasn't going to stop her from joining any and every activity possible!

----So here she is, walking beside Zephyr as they found their way through the grounds of Koldovstoretz, they asked around to find where the activity is, Harumi looked excited about it. very excited actually, one might argue too excited considering she was bad at DIY, but she could do simple things with a bit of luck.

----When they arrived, Harumi saw the DIY supplies and in her mind was already deciding which ones she will use, she knew a simple, and also popular, way to make a paper lantern, and was planning to use it here, perhaps she would also add stars to it to make it more fun.

----Harumi went ahead and picked the materials she was going to use. Cyan, pastel yellow and dark purpleish blue paper was going to make the bodies of the lanterns. She also picked markers of similar colours to draw the stars on the lanterns.

----Having picked the materials, Harumi decided to snack on something as she worked, she picked some dates, biscuits, and some dark drink that she soon learned to be tamarind, the drink was sweet and slightly sour, Harumi liked it overall. She kept eating alot ever since she came to Koldovstoretz, why is there food everywhere! The food was awesome really but why is it everywhere! It makes her want to try all the new things.

----Finally sitting, she started working on the lantern. She made vertical cuts throughout 3 horizontal papers, she made sure not to accidentally cut the paper all the way though, she then drew the stars on the tips of the papers. She folded two of the papers in half then unfolded them to give the lanterns more of an angular shape, and kept one unfolded to give it a rounder shape. Finally she rolled the 3 cut papers as well as 3 others that were not cut, she secured the ones not cut inside the ones cut, mismatching the colours to keep the lanterns from being one plain colour, in the end she made the handles from the same paper colours and secured them.

----Now that she finished the DIY part, she inspected her work, the lanterns were simple but good enough in her opinion, all that remains is lighting them up, so that they can be real functioning lanterns.

----"Lumos!" She said as she made a loop with her hand, the lanterns now emitted a soft light, it looked awesome, or at least as awesome as Harumi can manage without ruining it completely.

----She turned to Zephyr to see his progress and found that he finished as well. "Wow, yours look awesome! Everything is perfect, I finished mine too!" She said before picking up one of the three lanterns she made to show it to him."Mine is pretty basic but I dare say I outdid myself!" Her lantern glowed softly but surely. "yours look well-made, you can make lanterns for a living." She joked observing his reaction to her words before laughing.

The lanterns:

Reducio