Ramadan 2011 continued

Today was much like yesterday, though the traffic was bad. I think most offices closed for Ramadan the same time I leave the office because the traffic is a lot heavier, yet I'm told that an hour later the roads are fairly empty.

A comment on my last post asked a few questions, I figure I’d deal with them here.

Are you planning to fast the whole month of Ramadan?

Yep, the whole month. Last year I did it for two weeks but then stopped because I had to travel to Canada. I have no trip planned this month so I should be fasting the entire month of Ramadan.

Without even any liquid intake for 15 hours in this hot weather? Seriously?!

Well, the trick is not being outside for any length of time. I'm not sure how Qataris dealt with it in the old days before air-conditioning, going through an entire day of 40+ degree weather without drinking any water, but nowadays thanks to air-conditioning it's not too bad.

I work in an office so I'm actually not outside much at all, just when going to and from the office in my air-conditioned car. My day typically goes like this:

wake up at 3am for my sohour snack, go back to sleep
wake up, get ready for work
drive to the office
work in the office for six hours
drive home
maybe do a couple of odds and ends in the apartment
have a nap for 1 1/2 to 2 hours
prepare for Iftar meal
start eating (at the appropriate time of course)

So I'm not really outside much. I don't think there's any way I could go without drinking water if I was outside for any length of time.

Besides the desire to integrate with the culture of your living country, are there anything else that's motivating you?

No, not really, this is motivated by a desire to experience things as the locals do.

The first three years I was here I did not fast and pretty much kept to my usual schedule but in the meantime the country had changed. People wouldn't even start going out until 8 or 9 in the evening and typically would stay out until 1am or later. Stores would open from 8pm onward. By the time things were starting to pick up in Qatar I was going to bed. I was clearly out-of-sync with the country. By fasting I am more in line with the country’s “clock” so to speak, napping when everyone else is napping, having meals the same time everyone else is, and staying up later. Also it provides me an opportunity to try to experience what fasting during Ramadan is like and share that experience with everyone else. You also get a better idea of many of the local customs. Lots of people have been chatting with me about how fasting is going, have recommendations for various foods and dates, and through those conversations you can get an idea of what they do for Ramadan.

So far fasting has been easier than I recall from last year. Still early in the month though.

_