Its the start of Ramadan this weekend (either today or tomorrow). This is the holy month of Islam when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset for a month and its been interesting for me to see the run up thus far.
The shops are full of every kind of date you can imagine, in every form you can imagine: Chocolate covered, stuffed with nuts, plain, seedless...the list seems endless! There are also the most tempting-looking Arabic sweet pastries on display which are made from pistachio's, dates and other nuts. My favourite is a pastry similar to the Greek kataifi which, according to Wikipedia, is a shredded phyllo pastry. In Arabic its called Kanafeh. This particular one has pistachio's with lots of sticky sweet stuff surrounded by the kanafeh. Delicious! There are specials on food items and on serving items like plates and dishes.
The other noticeable thing about the run-up to Ramadan is that the shops have a very empty feeling to them. I was at the mall yesterday and, although most shops were open, it was definitely quieter than usual.
Jaco took a trip to the bottle store yesterday to stock up on our liquor supply and he came back with very little as they did not have stock. We were told earlier in the week that they were well-stocked. The only thing I can imagine this means is that the expats are freaking out and stock-piling for Ramadan. We would surely have done the same had we not had the benefit of having people in the know around us. The bottle store stays open but the hours are adjusted to 10am - 5pm. This is much more convenient than the normal hours of 9am - 1pm and 4pm - 8pm (or is it 10?).
During Ramadan we as expats are expected to observe a few basic rules. No eating, drinking or smoking in public in daylight hours, dress modestly (cover shoulders and legs) and no loud music. I am a little bit apprehensive about the implications of this as there will be no more trips to the mall over lunch times and catching a quick bite to eat there but its only a month and I'm sure I'll survive.
So that's about it for today. I am apprehensive, yes, but also excited to experience something new. I'll let you know how it goes.
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thought i needed to follow since u are moaning, and oh the house on the pic looks so familiar, wonder why? anyways, we'll get throug ramadan, again! you'll see it's not that bad, and JJ can eat and have a drink in public!
ReplyDeleteLucky him! I've been through mid-summer in the Middle East and 14 hours of labour so one month of small adjustments will be a breeze!
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