Let's Try This Again...Ramadan...Take Two

Ramadan is here. It’s a wonder anything’s getting written at all. It’s hot. It’s very hot. Whatever you’re thinking about heat as you know it, forget about it. This is different. Abu Dhabi summers are thick and dense. The wind can’t be motivated to push around the steamy air so the atmosphere just sits as close to the concrete as it could ever possibly get in a thick gelatinous layer of steamy hatred.  The heat lazily oozes about you, encasing you, and pushing downwards on your lungs, making you feel like an asthmatic asshole for even leaving your apartment in the first place. Like you just had to have toilet paper.  Guess what? You didn’t. You thought you did, and now you’re going to pay the price.

Here’s the good news. It’s Ramadan. And while during Ramadan much is expected of you, on the very same ticket, so VERY little is expected of you. Allow me to explain. During Ramadan, Muslims fast during fasting hours. The fasting starts from the morning prayer which is at 4:18 am here, (it depends on your location in the world).  The fasting continues until about 7:18 which is when we hear the Maghrib, (evening) adhan, (call to prayer).  At this point we can break the fast. The breaking of the fast is called iftar. So what exactly do Muslims fast from? Kind of everything. We don’t eat or drink during these hours. We don’t listen to music and we don’t have sex. We do the five obligatory prayers but there are also extra prayers that Muslims can submit during Ramadan. These prayers are called Taraweh. Some people don’t understand Ramadan too well or the reasoning behind it, but basically the idea is that Ramadan is supposed to draw Muslim people closer to Allah, or God. You have 11 months during the year that belong to you, and this single month is for Allah.

I will be perfectly honest with you. Ramadan is not easy for a person who hasn’t been doing this their whole lives. It’s not easy for a person like me. I’ve spent my entire life as a born Muslim doing exactly what I’ve wanted to do. I’ve never done Ramadan before. I’ve tried it this year, and the first couple of days were rough. After the rough patch, I’ve been successful for the most part. I’ve done it, really. But it was not without some error, and it has not gone exactly perfectly. I have struggled to not drink water, to not pop things into my mouth, to remember to pray each time, to not blast Beenie Man in my car…. Yeah. Listen, it’s been rough. But. I have remembered when I have made mistakes, and I’ve corrected them.

So that’s what is asked of you during Ramadan. What’s not expected of you, is to go outside during daylight hours. Everything’s different when you live in a Muslim country. And by different, I mean better. Most people who have to show up for work during this time are given time to rest, and time to pray, and lots of breaks during the day. People are fasting, and labor laws here are empathetic to this.  Many businesses shut down completely for hours at a time during the heat of the day and people go home to rest and pray during the fasting hours. Many businesses don’t open at all until after iftar has been done. If you don’t have to work at all, (as I don’t) during Ramadan, it’s obvious that you will simply stay in your home until after iftar. Noone is really going to ask you outside. If they do, and you turn them down because of fasting it’s widely understood and accepted. So in other words, during Ramadan’s fasting hours, you can just sit still in one spot and think about Allah. Or you can watch Game of Thrones Seasons 1 through 3.  That’s what some people might be doing, I don’t know those people.

The really great thing about Ramadan is the spirit of people. People are relentlessly kind during this time of year. Sometimes in this country, I’ve noticed that men allow ladies to go ahead of them in a line if they happen to notice you back there. This is nice enough right? During Ramadan however, without fail, every line I’ve been in I’ve been ushered to the front of it if there were men ahead of me.  They do this for all ladies, of course, not just me. In my dreams it would be only me. If you’re in the bank, they stand up so you can sit. A gentleman at Starbucks paid for a friend’s coffee and mine yesterday, just because. Also, during this time of the year, the city is full of lights. The nights are quite bright with decorative and attractive lighting to celebrate the season. From tall buildings to the majestic waterway bridges to the shrubbery, everything gets a beautiful shroud of magical lights. I love it. I wish I had more pics, but I told you I don't go outside...I meant that. :) Here are some of the photos of the city these days. Beautiful.

Tis the season right? Even though I’m missing my family like mad right now, I’m really glad I decided to stay here during this season. The experience is priceless I think.