The holy month of Ramadan has started in Dubai last week. Other than the heavier than usual traffic and our office boy not doing the usual daily serving of milk tea, nothing much has changed. Well, most of the shops and cafeterias are closed during daytime and onto sunset but since I am bringing a sandwich at work, I am not so bothered.
Yesterday we went for grocery shopping at Deira City Center. The number of shoppers present has not declined. Businesses went as usual but coffee shops are closed.
We went to Carrefour and finished picking the things on our list. After about an hour, we decided it’s time to hit the food court, as per our little boss’s orders.
It was dark. From far, I could see that only some fast-food chains were open: KFC, McDonalds, Subway, Hardees, Pizza Hut, Krispy Kreme and Burger King. The rest of the food court is covered in darkness. All access to the dining area were blocked. The Japanese food chain, the Lebanese restaurant, the Indian cafeteria stood still.
People lined up in Burger King so I decided to do the same. I’d prefer BK than McDonalds anyway, if I really had to. At the counter was a big, bad sign that read: “Take Away ONLY.” Hmmm, that sounds intriguing and my growling stomach refused to digest that thought.
The lady confirmed my fear. After taking my order, she told me no one should eat in public. Sure no one will shoot me down if I do but it would be disrespectful and the wide, angry eyes would stop you anyway. Children are allowed to drink or munch something but adults should observe and respect the fasting month of Ramadan.
The burgers with freshly grilled angus beef smelled twice as nice now.
I went back to my daughter waiting impatiently. I gave her the fries and she reached for the still deliciously warm burger. I had no other choice but gulp down a lot of saliva and imagine the taste of food in my mouth (Ah, the weakness of man!) while we proceeded to wait for taxi.
Lesson learned: At least until October 12, eat at home first then shop later.
So, how far can you go (how many hours) without food and water?
Related posts:
- Ramadan Kareem 2009 Today starts the first day of Ramadan. If you’re...
- Weaning from processed food and losing weight Today’s guest post is from a bloggy friend whom...
- Ramadan’s over, Eid Mubarak Yep, I realized that I missed posting something on...
- A very disturbing case of food poisoning in Dubai Earlier this week, two young children died due to...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 12 comments }
Fasting period for the Muslims! At least you can ‘gulp down a lot of saliva’, I think that’s also restricted for them. Happy Holy Ramadan!
Fascinating. Yet another thing we take for granted here in the good ol’ US.
You changed your theme! I have been reading your entries in a reader . . . I like the new look. Of course, I liked the old one, too.
I think just about everything tastes good when one is fasting. I couldn’t imagine living in a society where everyone else was fasting but me!
I don’t know how they do that. Obviously their believe must be really strong. Sjoe. I agree that it will be disrespectful if you eat in public though…but gosh that must be difficult
I can just imagine! Haaaayyyy…I hope you had a feast the moment you got home.
I’m glad that in our church we fast for two meals on the first Sunday of each month. That’s long enough, and we give the money we would spend on food to those who don’t have enough for food. I’d have a 24×7 headache if I had to fast all day for as long as Ramadan lasts. It’s really interesting to see how different religions worship using many of the same beilefs and tools just in different ways. It makes me think they all started at the same point and each drifted off step by step changing little things as they went. I too hope you had a feast when you got home!
Hugs,
Holly
At least Pristine was allowed to eat!
You changed your look – me too!
With a nice hot juicy, sizzeling Whopper I wouldn’t be abe to wait. I can only imagine what it would be like to have all eyes on me, to see if I had self control in front of my peers. It would be very difficult for me.
I hope you enjoyed your feast when you got home.
Wow, I didn’t think about how IT would be in a Muslim country! I guess that makes sense.
We had a company picnic/bbq yesterday and we have one Muslim (Canadian) employee. We didn’t think of Ramadan. Poor guy watched us eat and then ate at sundown. I felt really guilty. The party started at 2pm so it was hard to have the whole company wait. But I had mixed feelings.
he was ok with it! I am sure living in a purely Christian world, he must be used to it!
I did a three day fast once and almost fainted. Now if I fast, it’s maybe for one day. And I usually allow myself water or juice (the fainting thing). I’m Christian, not Muslim, and we certainly don’t take fasting as seriously as Muslims! I don’t know many Christians who fast. I guess they could be fasting and me just not know it, because I don’t broadcast it when I’m fasting, it’s a very personal thing for the most part. Unless it’s like someone commented about above, a whole church fast. One point of fasting, for me, is to discipline my flesh (self control), and in so doing, learn to discipline my spirit and mind.
I’ll bet you’re counting the days til the food courts open!
As an American Muslim I must say that other people eating in front of me bears me no burden. It is nice and respectful to not do so, but I do not expect everyone to worship as I do. In fact I work in the food industry so many people do not feel the same way. That is the beauty of America, you have the choice. For those of you who think you couldnt do it, you would be suprised how strong our bodies are and it is more psychological than physical. If many can involuntarily fast in countries such as Africa where they do not have the luxury to break their fast, I am sure we all could do the same from sunrise to sunset….
I found this to be a very interesting post. Even the comments were thought-provoking. My children have Muslim friends at school, and I have had co-workers who were Muslim, and I’m sorry to say I don’t know very much about the beliefs, but I do know that the fast is sunup to sundown, and I think I would have to pray or sleep the whole time in order not to be tempted. You were very polite and self-disciplined not to eat in public.
forgetfulone’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen #13
Comments on this entry are closed.