August 11th begins Ramadan. It is set by the lunar calendar. It is very difficult when it lands in the summer. We are seeing Ramadan lamps all through the streets and in our apartment building. I will keep notes on what changes and happens during Ramadan here. I am sure it's celebrated in the US by the Islamic community, but when you live in an Islamic "country" it's "in your face" like Santa at Christmas. Too bad it's not Christ in our face at Christmas, but that's for another post sometime.
Iftar is the break fast in the evening. I have heard that after not eating/drinking/smoking/etc for that long, that people get almost a "high". But after a week not only do they adjust to not eating or drinking in the 109-120 degree weather, but they adjust to the high too...whew...
another topic here in Egypt with Ramadan is that we'll change the TIME just for Ramadan. Tues night time will go back...when it ends in Sept after one month, we'll go forward an hour again.
We won't be eating in public, I will be drinking water in bathrooms (from a water bottle, don't get any ideas about me and public bathrooms!) and we will NOT be having anymore picnics. The kids can eat and drink all they want.
I thought you might enjoy this well written article! It holds true to everything the Egyptians are telling me - maybe you'll enjoy this information about culture! I know plenty of schools study Islam, but I think they miss this VERY important holiday!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan
Pray for us to be Christlike while everyone suddenly has a loss of blood sugar, nicotine, water and other...interests......I have heard mostly horror stories.
We are so hoping to be invited to an Iftar!! I plan to incorporate an Iftar meal into our homeschool during the day - the Arabic teacher is considering being hired to talk to the kids about the washing/prayers/clothing/fasting/Ramadan and having his mom's cook prepare us a traditional meal. As long as us adults don't eat, we're perfectly respectful :)
As always, thanks for looking!!
3 comments:
Your local friend is adorable. I hope everything continues to do well with you and your family. Tami is trying to contact you for something special please let us know how we can contact you.
Cyndy Saxton (Tami Wood's mom)
Those lanterns are really beautiful... neat! It will be really interesting watching Ramadan up close; I look forward to hearing more about it. :)
Thanks Wendy. I really liked the videos. They were very clear and your voice was easily understandable. Be careful though. We worry about you.
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