How Did I Know Its Ramadan in Kuwait?
I have just arrived in Kuwait two days ago...Kuwait is not one of the countries where you can tell very strongly that it is Ramadan while looking out of the window. However, there are one or two main traditions that I know of...
In Ramadan, Diwaniyat are taking place close to every day and are extra packed. A Diwaniya is usually a place where men come together to chill out and talk issues of contemporary Kuwaiti society...Those are usually hosted in a big room that has been created as an extension of someone's house. The Diwaniyat are usually called after their owners. The Prince of Kuwait gets to go and visit different Diwaniyat during Ramadan so as to connect with his people directly...
Another tradition is one that would seem very similar to the Halloween trick and treat concept...on the 13th, 14th and 15th of Ramadan, kids go around knocking on doors singing a song about Girgaean which is the word used to refer to the tradition and the candy and nuts they get...
However, me arriving here, the first things that reminded me that it was Ramadan are:
- I arrived around Iftar time, the visa was on a separate sheet that I needed to take off my brother who is waiting outside. They usually have an office where they hand over the visas to be delivered inside to the arriving guests. However, this time it was different, everyone had left their post to go and have iftar... So my brother goes around and finds not one airport personnel or officer... so he decides to walk into the airport past the security posts at which no one was standing and up to passport control and then just handed me my visa directly and then he walked out again...It was not an exaggeration when someone said that Kuwait is at the highest security risk the one hour that encompasses iftar.
- Kuwaiti traffic is like one of the most organised in the world...but then again Ramadan is here and then everything goes bad...going to downtown yesterday was a pain since the traffic lights were not functioning properly causing chaos and again there was no one there to take care of the situation...
Again, I am a big fan of Ramadan but don't think it should be taken as an excuse for chaos....
In Ramadan, Diwaniyat are taking place close to every day and are extra packed. A Diwaniya is usually a place where men come together to chill out and talk issues of contemporary Kuwaiti society...Those are usually hosted in a big room that has been created as an extension of someone's house. The Diwaniyat are usually called after their owners. The Prince of Kuwait gets to go and visit different Diwaniyat during Ramadan so as to connect with his people directly...
Another tradition is one that would seem very similar to the Halloween trick and treat concept...on the 13th, 14th and 15th of Ramadan, kids go around knocking on doors singing a song about Girgaean which is the word used to refer to the tradition and the candy and nuts they get...
However, me arriving here, the first things that reminded me that it was Ramadan are:
- I arrived around Iftar time, the visa was on a separate sheet that I needed to take off my brother who is waiting outside. They usually have an office where they hand over the visas to be delivered inside to the arriving guests. However, this time it was different, everyone had left their post to go and have iftar... So my brother goes around and finds not one airport personnel or officer... so he decides to walk into the airport past the security posts at which no one was standing and up to passport control and then just handed me my visa directly and then he walked out again...It was not an exaggeration when someone said that Kuwait is at the highest security risk the one hour that encompasses iftar.
- Kuwaiti traffic is like one of the most organised in the world...but then again Ramadan is here and then everything goes bad...going to downtown yesterday was a pain since the traffic lights were not functioning properly causing chaos and again there was no one there to take care of the situation...
Again, I am a big fan of Ramadan but don't think it should be taken as an excuse for chaos....
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