Ramadan is Over!

I'll attempt to describe what this all means.

Ramadan is the Islamic holy month. It involves fasting during day light hours, among other things. This which means that Arabs (and most are of Muslim religion) are not to eat, drink, smoke, even chew gum (and probably a few other enjoyments) during Ramadan. Eid al Fitr, is a 3 day Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. And currently, at the time of this post, we are enjoying Eid which means we have a few extra days of work.. and the restaurants are now open again during the day.

Why am I so happy about this? Well, for starters - because the Arabs are not eating during the day - none of the restaurants are open until after the sun goes down. And it's actually against the law for anyone (including those who are not Muslim, like us) to eat or drink in public (even if you're driving in your car). The only exception to this are those working outside in the heat (after all, we can't have people dropping dead of dehydration out there). So it's a bit of an effort if you wanna sneak some kind of food or drink, but you can take it behind closed doors out of respect for your Arab friends.

Let me go back to my question, Why am I so happy about this? Well now we can eat, drink and be merry once again during daylight hours without any worries. (Because I did feel like I was tiptoeing around a bit and looking over my shoulder). So it's all good.

I'll attempt to describe Eid. It's kinda a little bit like Christmas for Muslims. Everyone dresses in new clothes, exchanges gifts, visits with family, and people wish each other a Happy Eid (actually the proper terminology is "Eid Mubarak"). And here's the quirky thing: The beginning of Eid is marked by seeing the new crescent moon and it has to be just right or Eid does not begin. You with me here? So around 7 o'clock pm (or so) last night, the powers-that-be saw the crescent moon. Imagine everyone saying, "It's evening already and we don't know for sure if we're working tomorrow or not....yet". While science predicts the phases of the moon, the committee responsible for these sorts of things must see it with their own eyes. So Eid was announced, everyone rejoiced. We heard the honking of horns, fireworks went off in a few places, the streets were all traffic jams as everyone headed out to the malls to do their last minute Eid shopping (I am NOT kidding here) and we said, "well I guess we can sleep in tomorrow and then go get a coffee at a decent hour!". Pretty crazy, huh?

So this is my expat view of Ramadan and the first Eid. Hopefully I'm accurate here. I'm still learning but it's all very fascinating. And apparently there is a second Eid (and more days off work, hopefully) in two months.