As some of you may know, September is the holy month of Ramadam this year.Ramadam is a religious festival for all muslims and lasts an entire month at the end of which everyone gets a week off work.
However, as a westerner, living through Ramadam is a bit like Purgatory!
During Ramadam, all Muslims are expected to fast in the hours of daylight. Specifically, they are forbidden to eat, drink, smoke or indeed let anything pass their lips between the hours of 4am and 6.30pm....and they have to keep this up for a whole month!
Unfortunately, this being Saudi Arabia, fasting is compulsory for all including westerners.
Ok so at home I can eat and drink as much as I like, but not in public and not at work. You may be thinking that westerners are given a little leeway by the police…..and you would be absolutely wrong.
Last year, a British teacher was seen taking a sip of water from a bottle as he left his school. He was arrested, jailed for 3 months and received 10 lashes in “Chop Chop Square” before being deported. Trust me these guys take it very seriously! I can only imagine that all Diabetics must leave Saudi Arabia during Ramadam!
So what are the results of all this fasting you may wonder? Well, for the Arabs it means getting up at 3.30 am to have a large meal, drink a bucket of water and chain smoke a packet of 20 in quick succession before going back to bed.
As you can imagine during the day, things are very subdued. The Arab work ethic of doing as little as possible becomes even more pronounced as the Saudis struggle to cope with low sugar levels and dehydration. The roads are empty and the normal day to day work routine comes to a virtual standstill. Many Arabs take time off work for the entire period of Ramadam and those that stay only work 3 hrs a day.
Personally, I sneak a sandwich into my laptop bag and about midday I enjoy my lunch locked away in the toilet. I’m sure my Muslim work colleagues know this but they seem to be turning a blind eye!
At 6.30pm things go crazy as starving Muslims begin scoffing bars of chocolate and experience an immediate sugar rush. Must Saudi’s, relieved at getting through the day, then party until about 1am in the morning, knowing that they will only get a few hours sleep before they have to get up again.
Although the roads are virtually empty, I have noticed that the standards of driving ability have reached new and more dangerous lows. Again I can only put this down to the driver suffering from a combination of lack of sleep and dehydration. Indeed in the Arab News today is an article about how the number of road deaths increases by over 20% during Ramadam.
During Ramadam, all Muslims are expected to fast in the hours of daylight. Specifically, they are forbidden to eat, drink, smoke or indeed let anything pass their lips between the hours of 4am and 6.30pm....and they have to keep this up for a whole month!
Unfortunately, this being Saudi Arabia, fasting is compulsory for all including westerners.
Ok so at home I can eat and drink as much as I like, but not in public and not at work. You may be thinking that westerners are given a little leeway by the police…..and you would be absolutely wrong.
Last year, a British teacher was seen taking a sip of water from a bottle as he left his school. He was arrested, jailed for 3 months and received 10 lashes in “Chop Chop Square” before being deported. Trust me these guys take it very seriously! I can only imagine that all Diabetics must leave Saudi Arabia during Ramadam!So what are the results of all this fasting you may wonder? Well, for the Arabs it means getting up at 3.30 am to have a large meal, drink a bucket of water and chain smoke a packet of 20 in quick succession before going back to bed.
As you can imagine during the day, things are very subdued. The Arab work ethic of doing as little as possible becomes even more pronounced as the Saudis struggle to cope with low sugar levels and dehydration. The roads are empty and the normal day to day work routine comes to a virtual standstill. Many Arabs take time off work for the entire period of Ramadam and those that stay only work 3 hrs a day.
Personally, I sneak a sandwich into my laptop bag and about midday I enjoy my lunch locked away in the toilet. I’m sure my Muslim work colleagues know this but they seem to be turning a blind eye!
At 6.30pm things go crazy as starving Muslims begin scoffing bars of chocolate and experience an immediate sugar rush. Must Saudi’s, relieved at getting through the day, then party until about 1am in the morning, knowing that they will only get a few hours sleep before they have to get up again.
Although the roads are virtually empty, I have noticed that the standards of driving ability have reached new and more dangerous lows. Again I can only put this down to the driver suffering from a combination of lack of sleep and dehydration. Indeed in the Arab News today is an article about how the number of road deaths increases by over 20% during Ramadam.
Another big downside in Bahrain is that all the bars, brothels and off-licences close during Ramadam. For some reason I cannot fathom, the causeway is almost entirely devoid of traffic. Could it be that the multitude of Saudi’s that normally cross over into Bahrain every weekend, only come over for the Booze and the chicks…….surely not!!! I would wash my mouth out, but as its daylight this is of course Harram!!
No comments:
Post a Comment