Ramadan is a time many with which many of you may be unfamiliar. It is the time during which Muslims believe that the Koran was revealed and in celebration, millions of Muslims around the world do not allow food or drink of any kind pass their lips during the daylight hours for a month's time. However, life goes on (almost) normally-people go to work and do their daily tasks. Not everyone fasts though; children who have not reached puberty, people who need medicine to make it through the day (such as diabetics), pregnant women and those traveling are exempt. The timing of this month changes one month every year (based on the lunar calendar), and obviously it is easier in the winter months because the days are shorter and going without water is not as difficult as it is in the heat of the summer. This year, Ramadan falls during the month of August, one of the harder months during which to fast, especially in the heat of the Moroccan summer. Thankfully (and awesome for me), Morocco has been having a relatively mild summer and the part in which I live especially so.
I decided to try the whole "fasting" thing for my first Ramadan in Morocco. I wanted to see what it was like and wanted to work on my community integration, something which I do feel has been improved with my fasting. Truthfully, the first week of Ramadan was hard. However, instead of being really thirsty, which is what I was expecting, I was mostly just really tired. But that's pretty much in the past (or maybe I'm just used to it now). I have my Ramadan schedule down now and it definitely includes a long nap in the middle of the day. I wake up in the morning and go to the sbitar (clinic) until about 11 or so-after that there are very few people that want to walk in from the surrounding villages in the heat of the day without drinking any water. Then, I go home and go about my days tasks, which usually include painting some part of a window or door and listening to Harry Potter audio books. At 7 pm or so I head out to break fast...
I'm sure Ramadan varies from country to country and even from family to family. During this month I have been able to enjoy breaking fast (lftur, pronounced looftur, which incidentally also means "breakfast" in Darija...perhaps an Arabic influence on the English idea). Each family does it a little differently and eats different foods for this meal. In the town in general though, this meal is a substantial meal, whereas in other communities it is just a big tea time with a much larger meal later in the evening. Here though, each family usually serves dates, figs, milk and milk-based fruit smoothies, harira (the general name for soup....during Ramadan this soup is very hearty and the tomato-based version contains chick peas, pasta, lentils, beans, eggs and various spices and the milk-based version has a whole grain in it, similar to oatmeal) tea, bread, some kind of fish, and my favorite, shbekia (a delicious, deep-fried sugary pastry-type food drenched in honey (see attached picture). Some families also have various People do not drink nearly as much water as I would expect, and in fact, many families do not drink any water at all during lftur. The meal usually lasts an hour or so and the men in the family will go to the mosque for evening prayer between 9 and 9:30 (there is no section of the mosque for women in my town, though I know women go to mosque as well during this time in many bigger cities). As far as I can tell, people then go to bed at a normal time (between 10 and 12) and then the women wake up at 2:30 in order to prepare sHur, or the early morning breakfast, which is eaten at about 3:30am so that everyone can eat before the early call to prayer which happens about 4:30. Even though I am not participating in the prayer aspect of Ramadan, I have still been getting up and cooking breakfast at 3...it's necessary to eat this meal if I want to get through the day without being too hungry.
So Ramadan is almost over (and I will get to go back to getting a full night's sleep, yay!). This Saturday is called the Night of Power and many people will stay awake all night praying because they believe this is the night that is especially holy and that God is more likely to hear their prayers on this night. Many read the Koran aloud during this night. I do not plan on staying awake all night this Saturday, but it will be interesting to see the preparations for people to do so. And next week (either Wednesday or Thursday) is what is known as "small 3id," or the end of Ramadan. It involves a big morning meal with a lot of cakes and other sweet things and everyone gets very dressed up-basically just a celebration of the month of fasting and its end. I am planning to make a cake (yes, I have practiced this and didn't fail miserably) and enjoy 3id with my host family.
harira
lftur meal
bag of sbekia...yes I bought a bag for myself
I decided to try the whole "fasting" thing for my first Ramadan in Morocco. I wanted to see what it was like and wanted to work on my community integration, something which I do feel has been improved with my fasting. Truthfully, the first week of Ramadan was hard. However, instead of being really thirsty, which is what I was expecting, I was mostly just really tired. But that's pretty much in the past (or maybe I'm just used to it now). I have my Ramadan schedule down now and it definitely includes a long nap in the middle of the day. I wake up in the morning and go to the sbitar (clinic) until about 11 or so-after that there are very few people that want to walk in from the surrounding villages in the heat of the day without drinking any water. Then, I go home and go about my days tasks, which usually include painting some part of a window or door and listening to Harry Potter audio books. At 7 pm or so I head out to break fast...
I'm sure Ramadan varies from country to country and even from family to family. During this month I have been able to enjoy breaking fast (lftur, pronounced looftur, which incidentally also means "breakfast" in Darija...perhaps an Arabic influence on the English idea). Each family does it a little differently and eats different foods for this meal. In the town in general though, this meal is a substantial meal, whereas in other communities it is just a big tea time with a much larger meal later in the evening. Here though, each family usually serves dates, figs, milk and milk-based fruit smoothies, harira (the general name for soup....during Ramadan this soup is very hearty and the tomato-based version contains chick peas, pasta, lentils, beans, eggs and various spices and the milk-based version has a whole grain in it, similar to oatmeal) tea, bread, some kind of fish, and my favorite, shbekia (a delicious, deep-fried sugary pastry-type food drenched in honey (see attached picture). Some families also have various People do not drink nearly as much water as I would expect, and in fact, many families do not drink any water at all during lftur. The meal usually lasts an hour or so and the men in the family will go to the mosque for evening prayer between 9 and 9:30 (there is no section of the mosque for women in my town, though I know women go to mosque as well during this time in many bigger cities). As far as I can tell, people then go to bed at a normal time (between 10 and 12) and then the women wake up at 2:30 in order to prepare sHur, or the early morning breakfast, which is eaten at about 3:30am so that everyone can eat before the early call to prayer which happens about 4:30. Even though I am not participating in the prayer aspect of Ramadan, I have still been getting up and cooking breakfast at 3...it's necessary to eat this meal if I want to get through the day without being too hungry.
So Ramadan is almost over (and I will get to go back to getting a full night's sleep, yay!). This Saturday is called the Night of Power and many people will stay awake all night praying because they believe this is the night that is especially holy and that God is more likely to hear their prayers on this night. Many read the Koran aloud during this night. I do not plan on staying awake all night this Saturday, but it will be interesting to see the preparations for people to do so. And next week (either Wednesday or Thursday) is what is known as "small 3id," or the end of Ramadan. It involves a big morning meal with a lot of cakes and other sweet things and everyone gets very dressed up-basically just a celebration of the month of fasting and its end. I am planning to make a cake (yes, I have practiced this and didn't fail miserably) and enjoy 3id with my host family.
