Day 1
So a few people have been asking me the reasons behind my decision to fast this Ramadan and basically there are a lot of reasons:
- I'm in the Gulf, in a very Muslim part of the world. Ramadan here isn't just a decision to not do certain things during certain hours of the day, it's an absolute way of life. The entire country adjusts itself completely. Working hours are shifted, all restaurants/cafes are closed during the day and then open far later. It's illegal to smoke, drink or eat in public. Life revolves around different meal times like iftar and suhoor, it's all that people talk about, decorations are different around the city, Coke has special Ramadan cans, the list goes on... It makes sense to be an active part of this way of life rather than having to work around it by sneaking cigarrettes in the toilet or going home to make lunch from stocked up foodstuffs.
- One of my main goals for coming here was to understand the mentality of the people and to understand the "culture", which is not just eating cool food and wearing fancy clothes, but to really understand why people do things here the way they do them.
- It is a good opportunity to get in touch with a different side of my spirituality, ask myself different questions about who I am, what I believe, what I need from life and what keeps me going day to day.
- It is a good opportunity to take myself to a different limit, challenge myself in a different way.
- The concept behind putting yourself in the shoes of someone who does not eat more than one meal a day, does not have ready access to water or the luxuries of smoking and loud car stereos (a hell of a lot of people in this world) is definitely an interesting concept. From what I understand, this is one of the main concepts behind Ramadan and it certainly makes sense to me.
- But I have to admit, a big lure is the feeling that you're part of a community. Ramadan brings the community together. People ask about each other's health, habits and wellbeing more during this period. People support each other, they take their meals communally and they reflect together. In that sense, it is a wonderful time.
So Day 1.
Apart from the fact that I had to work 12 hours today, I would say it was pretty good...
I ended up breaking my fast at Iftar over a can of Coke and a cigarette having a meeting with one of our board members... and eventually consumed a nice Turkey sandwich at O'Briens. Not bad for my first iftar I guess...
Following this I chilled out at home for a while and then a bunch of us went to La Maison du Cafe to smoke shisha, have the second meal (the name of which I forget) and listen to some nice Ramadan tunes (very soft songs sung by a guy playing an Arabian guitar thingy). Following this we went back to the apartment to chill out and watched Becker, Seinfeld, Frasier and Friends - a good flash back to 90s sitcoms which were some of the best sitcoms in my opinion. Then we went to Beirouti for some Lebanese food for our suhoor (last meal).
Now am lying in my bed at home contemplating my first day of my first real Ramadan and thinking that it was pretty damn good. :)
- I'm in the Gulf, in a very Muslim part of the world. Ramadan here isn't just a decision to not do certain things during certain hours of the day, it's an absolute way of life. The entire country adjusts itself completely. Working hours are shifted, all restaurants/cafes are closed during the day and then open far later. It's illegal to smoke, drink or eat in public. Life revolves around different meal times like iftar and suhoor, it's all that people talk about, decorations are different around the city, Coke has special Ramadan cans, the list goes on... It makes sense to be an active part of this way of life rather than having to work around it by sneaking cigarrettes in the toilet or going home to make lunch from stocked up foodstuffs.
- One of my main goals for coming here was to understand the mentality of the people and to understand the "culture", which is not just eating cool food and wearing fancy clothes, but to really understand why people do things here the way they do them.
- It is a good opportunity to get in touch with a different side of my spirituality, ask myself different questions about who I am, what I believe, what I need from life and what keeps me going day to day.
- It is a good opportunity to take myself to a different limit, challenge myself in a different way.
- The concept behind putting yourself in the shoes of someone who does not eat more than one meal a day, does not have ready access to water or the luxuries of smoking and loud car stereos (a hell of a lot of people in this world) is definitely an interesting concept. From what I understand, this is one of the main concepts behind Ramadan and it certainly makes sense to me.
- But I have to admit, a big lure is the feeling that you're part of a community. Ramadan brings the community together. People ask about each other's health, habits and wellbeing more during this period. People support each other, they take their meals communally and they reflect together. In that sense, it is a wonderful time.
So Day 1.
Apart from the fact that I had to work 12 hours today, I would say it was pretty good...
I ended up breaking my fast at Iftar over a can of Coke and a cigarette having a meeting with one of our board members... and eventually consumed a nice Turkey sandwich at O'Briens. Not bad for my first iftar I guess...
Following this I chilled out at home for a while and then a bunch of us went to La Maison du Cafe to smoke shisha, have the second meal (the name of which I forget) and listen to some nice Ramadan tunes (very soft songs sung by a guy playing an Arabian guitar thingy). Following this we went back to the apartment to chill out and watched Becker, Seinfeld, Frasier and Friends - a good flash back to 90s sitcoms which were some of the best sitcoms in my opinion. Then we went to Beirouti for some Lebanese food for our suhoor (last meal).
Now am lying in my bed at home contemplating my first day of my first real Ramadan and thinking that it was pretty damn good. :)
2 Comments:
So I am guessing u aren't muslim? Or was this just your first time fasting? Or both?
How was the experience
yep not muslim and my first time fasting in Ramadan, ive gone without food before but the Ramadan experience is a bit different yeah.
hard to sum up how the experience has been in one word - good, would be the one i'd use. its only been 2 days but its living up to most of the reasons i put up in that post... we'll see how long i last :)
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