Eid-il-Fitri

Oki doki, so Ramadan is done for another year. Whew… life is really a lot easier now that we are able to eat and drink during daylight hours again. The whole Middle East seems to be in a good mood now that it’s time for Eid. Last night we heard some fireworks in the distance to mark the end of the fasting.

In Riyadh, streets are deserted during daytime because businesses are closed, many people have traveled abroad and those who are here are either sleeping or eating at home.  Shops open in the evenings and we are told it’s one of the busiest times of the year for them because everyone is giving gifts to relatives and children. Here’s a picture from one of the busiest streets in Riyadh from yesterday. Hubster and I have never seen it this empty before.

Ramadan

We are nearing the end of Ramadan, the Moslem holy month of fasting. During Ramadan Moslems do not consume any food or drink during daylight hours. They do this to remind themselves that not all people are so fortunate as to be able to eat three square meals a day. As non-Moslems, you would probably assume that this does not apply to us. Unfortunately not so… hubster and I have been eating and drinking in secrecy for the past few weeks that we have been back in the Middle East.

That is, you’ll get into trouble if you eat or drink in public during daylight hours. It’s not clear exactly what kind of trouble. Some say you’ll get arrested and detained until the end of Ramadan. Some say you’ll get fined and some that you’ll get told off. In any case, we haven’t taken any chances, so all eating and drinking has happened behind closed and locked doors. For K it hasn’t been that easy with daily temperatures in the mid 40’s and some walking to do outside. Especially unpleasant have been daily morning jogs. Mornings are the coolest time of the day, but with temperatures starting at 33C it’s really not pleasant at all to job in the mornings.

Culture shock USA

Some of you might be aware that our team of two was split up for a short time this summer. That is, I (K) was in the USA for a month and a half working on my studies while hubster was holding the fort in Riyadh. Now we are both safely back in the Middle East region but I thought it might be interesting to list some of the mini culture shocks that I had when I flew over to the free world. Coming from Riyadh, it really felt like I’d stepped into a space shuttle. Yes, that’s how different America felt compared to Saudi, That is not to say that it’s a negative or positive thing. It simply is. So the shocks in chronological order:

1.    It’s so green. (This one started on the plane already)
2.    Colors. People don’t wear either white or black, they wear all colors and some show a lot of skin.
3.    I can read again!
4.    Women drive. Took me a few split seconds to realize that yes, it’s ok there in the free world.
5.    Americans are super polite… haven’t seen that happening in Riyadh yet.
6.    You can go jogging on the streets and the freedom tastes sweet!