Ramadan Kareem

Today is the first work day since Ramadan started at sundown on Friday night. Pretty much the whole country changes.

No Muslims are allowed to eat, drink, or smoke during sunlight hours. This means that they often eat a big meal right before sunrise and then another large meal just after sunset. This causes schedule shifts and makes for some pretty cranky students toward the late afternoon.

The sunset meal is a big deal almost every night. Its called Iftar and usually involves large groups of people eating together. CMU-Q and other parts of Education City often host Iftars for the students. The first is this Thursday night, and I'm going to try fasting on Thursday, just to see what its like. Except water... I may have to keep drinking water. We'll see.

Non-Muslims are asked not to eat, drink, or smoke in front of Muslims who are fasting. This isn't a rule, exactly, but it is extremely rude to do so. Most of the restaurants are closed during daylight hours, including the student cafeterias. The staff cafeteria is open, but most people who are eating lunch take the food to their office and eat with the door closed.

Most of the shops and offices open early in the morning, close from about noon-7:00pm, and then re-open from 7:00pm-midnight or so. To my joy this morning, traffic patterns had changed so much that my normal 20 minutes of sitting in traffic had turned into 3 minutes of easy driving.

All bars and the liquor store are closed for the entire month. Unfortunately, Ramadan started a day earlier than expected (its based on the phases of the moon) and I was unable to get my liquor permit. Adventures in Liquor Permits is a story for another day, however.

I've been told that this month is a shock to the Westerners who are experiencing it for the first time. So far, so good, even though its only been two days!