Ramadan

I figure now is a good time to mention what little I know about the time of Ramadan before it actually begins this year on September 24. Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic calendar so is like September in our calendar. While it is considered the most holy Islamic month for many reasons, it is not the name of the actual fasting Muslims do but simply the period of time in which they perform the fast, among other religious traditions. In many ways it is comparable to our Christmas time if you think of Christmas time being the whole month of December, a time of good cheer, charity, and reflection. The Islamic calendar follows the lunar months so is shorter than our Gregorian calendar by 11 or 12 days. A new month begins when the crescent of a new moon is sighted. Because of this difference, Ramadan begins and ends at different times each year according to our calendar. Next year, it should begin somewhere around the 12th of September. For more information on Ramadan the following link has good information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan

The Fasting that occurs during Ramadan is considered one of the five pillars of Islam. Islam means “submission” and this can be seen in the daily lives of Muslims as they practice their faith. For those unfamiliar with the five pillars of Islam they are:

1. Public declaration that “there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his Prophet”
2. Pray five times a day: sunrise, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and night
3. Give zakat (alms) for the propagation of Islam and to help the needy
4. Fast during the daylight hours during the month of Ramadan
5. Complete the haj (pilgrimage) to Mecca

We’ve been told that during the fast, some shops may keep different hours while others like restaurants and coffee shops will close during the day altogether. Also while much of daily life continues as normal, fasting does cause a certain sluggishness towards the end of the day especially as the month goes on. Some of this can probably be attributed to the slight shift in sleeping patterns as folks rise earlier to have breakfast before the sunrise. In villages throughout Egypt, and here in Ma’adi, we have been told it is traditional for a man to walk through the streets around 1:30am or 2am beating a drum calling out families by name that they should wake to eat before the sunrise. (I can’t wait!)

Each evening after sunset, the meal breaking the fast occurs (called Iftar). It is a celebratory meal and is traditionally shared by families and groups of families. Some wealthy families will host an Iftar for the needy in parks and squares and some of these will feed four-thousand people with the food put out on long rows of tables for any who want to share the feast. Fasting ends at the beginning of the next month with what is called the Eid el Fitr or breaking of the fast, a large celebration and holiday.

We have heard from other teachers who have been here several years that we may well see some animals being slaughtered for the feasts during Ramadan. While this sounds rather gory and may not appeal to our western senses it is important to understand that while Cairo is a large thriving city, it still has the roots of an agrarian society with lots of farm produce being sold in stalls, markets and on the street as well as livestock etc. To see some of the western reactions to this make me wonder how we don’t have more vegetarians in the states….but I digress, I’ll explore that thought more maybe after I’ve experienced Ramadan first-hand. I’ll keep you posted.

For our part, we participated yesterday in a small lecture on Ramadan where I got all this interesting information, enjoyed some traditional food eaten after nightfall during Ramadan,

and visited a very neat area of Islamic Cairo where they are selling Ramadan lanterns. It is traditional to hang a lantern outside your home during Ramadan. On our way, we saw these guys stringing Ramadan lights on a mosque…all we need now is snow!

If your needing a Ramadan lantern, this would unquestionably be the place to find one, or a million…see for yourself. To me it seems a bit like picking out your favorite christmas tree.....

We bought the one near the bottom left shaped like a star with multi-colored panes for a friend. They come in all shapes and sizes, some no bigger than my thumb, some as tall as me…

But our BIG find during this outing ..... you can see Nancy with in the picture below:

Yes, that’s what you think it is, no it’s not a bat! It’s a louffah! Oh they’ll be some scrubbing going on now! Our skin will thank us in the morning….Nancy just about tackled this guy in his stall where he had a small bundle of them for sale on his lap and she forgot about haggling at all when he told her 5 pounds for one. I think he gave her a good price just so she’d let him up off the floor…

This guy here was making lanterns, or taking them apart, not sure which…note the gas stove to the left where he kept his soldering tools piping hot.

There were lots of folks making their way along this street as well as cars, scooters, donkey carts,

men with handcarts.......

and women carrying things the old fashioned way. This still amazes Nancy and I, maybe because we know how uncoordinated we are…or maybe the word is ..unbalanced...

There were lots of small shops here selling everything from handmade wooden barrels,

Wire goods.....

Wool (Guard your sheep!)

This guy here taking his lunch in his little workshop…no idea what actually goes on here but it was typical of alot of these little shops.

Dates and figs! (mmm..) and the finest merchandise this side of the river Nile…

Now I can’t go on without telling you how extraordinarily friendly these folks are and oh do they love to have their photographs taken!!! Carry a camera conspicuously, take their pictures, show them the picture on the digital camera, start a conversation in broken Arabic and you can easily spend the rest of your afternoon pantomiming to each other. Repeat with the guy in the next store. Amazing!!

And the children are absolutely precious, a smile goes a long, long way…

Matt, Christopher and Andrew will appreciate that even here in the most foreign of places, the kids still enjoy the same things as at home, albeit in a slightly different setting... can you tell what they're doing?

No? How about now?

Continuing down this street we came to an amazing structure that commanded to have a picture or twenty taken of it, here are a few so you’ll get the idea…

It was later that night I discovered that this was Bab Zuweila, the last remaining southern gate of the old medieval city of Al-Qahira built in the 10th century. Through that gate, below and between the minerets, and up the street is the Khan which we've visited ...(but that's Nancy's blog that she's been neglecting so I won't go there...just email her giving her a hard time)

Opposite the gate the road continues down what is known as the Street of the Tent Makers, where in the days of yore, Bedouins would buy their colorful fabrics for their caravans tents. Not only does it have a REALLY cool name, but it's a really cool place as well.

Today there is still much fabric to be had, but it is generally used for constructing tents for weddings, wakes, funerals and other festive occasions. There was also some nice wall-hanging quilted artwork that we fancied so we are planning a return trip since we ran out of time on this tour.

Imagine what life would be like if everything you saw everyday was new and fascinating!! or how about what life would be like if you saw everything everyday as new and fascinating??