Ramadan Kareem

When I landed in Doha on Monday night, Ramadan was already in full swing. You know the drill...fasting from sunup to sundown. That would include no food, no water, no sex, and no cigarettes while the sun shines for practicing Muslims and others that choose to make the jump. Ok, that's the short version. It's much more than that, sort of like Lent for those in the Christian world. It started on the 22nd of August and will continue until the crescent moon is spotted, once again, around the 19th of September. David and I headed to Chili's at City Center last night to break our fast. He had been fasting since 4:30 that morning (not by choice) and I, well, I had been fasting for every bit of two hours. To my surprise the waitress brought us a plate of dates, as that is the traditional way to break one's fast. An even better surprise was that she treated us to an order of egg rolls and a dessert just to compensate us for the plastic wear that they gave us because they were out of the real stuff. Give me plastic any day of the week if you're chasing it with dessert. After our "iftar" meal, we strolled around the mall (not to be confused with Doha's "THE Mall", as Gina so kindly pointed out in yesterdays comments :D) and checked all the decorations in place to mark the Ramadan season. There's a Christmas feel in the air, as long as you're in the mall and not out in the 112 degree temps!




Oh, one word of advice this Ramadan season. Get out of the parking garage before 8:00pm, if you want to avoid the massive parking jams caused by those just arriving at the mall!






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