Sunday, May 05, 2019

Ramadan 2019 is here!

The month of Ramadan has officially started. I happened to be playing padel tennis with some friends as the sun was setting when suddenly we heard a series of thundering booms. It was the Ramadan Cannon at the State Mosque, which happened to be nearby. The Cannon was fired four or five times to tell everyone that Ramadan has arrived and the Holy Month has begun.

So time to get meals prepared. The first prayer of the day is at 3:32am so you have to eat the final meal a bit before that, then you fast for the rest of the day, until just after 6pm. No food, not even water. What I always do is keep a meal on my nightstand (dry cereal, nuts, fruit, anything easy to grab and eat in the dark) along with two big glasses of water and a glass of laban. I will be setting an alarm for 3:10am, eat the meal, then go back to bed. Muslims won't be going to sleep, they've got to go pray, hopefully getting a bit more sleep after they return from prayers before heading off to work.

Work hours are reduced because Muslims are fasting. My office has 5-hour work days during Ramadan, but naturally no lunch break. Not that a lunch break would matter much, all the restaurants are closed during the day and eating or drinking in public during the day is a major faux pas. It can be serious, if police are around they'll ask you to stop.

While fasting you can't smoke either so smokers can really suffer, and like food & drink you can't smoke in public during the day. You would think more people would take this opportunity to quit smoking but it seems like smokers just bear with it.


Here's hoping for a great Holy Month. Ramadan Kareem everyone!

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