Ramadan in the City

Well, another Ramadan has come and (thankfully) almost gone. I'm always indecisive as an expat in Dubai this time of year, torn between loving the celebratory spirit around the city, and hating the fact that leisure opportunities are practically nonexistent before 7:15 every night. No eating or drinking allowed outside, which means all restaurants are closed, bars are most certainly closed, and with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees with 60 or 70% humidity, weekends are a social dead zone until sunset.

Just to set the stage, here's our shopping cart at the liquor store right before Ramadan started:

It's solely thanks to the contents of this shopping cart that we've maintained our sanity for the past three weeks (for the record, we were shopping for friends, so not all of this is ours. Just so you know.)

Undoubtebly, the best thing about this time of year is watching Muslim friends and colleagues during their most holy month, through the discipline of fasting to striving to be better people every day. I love learning more and more about a religion that seemed so scary when we first arrived, and remains maligned, ever deepened by increasingly scary political unrest around the Middle East.

This year we had an incredible Iftar (the meal where the fast is broken) at a nonprofit in historic Dubai dedicated to teaching Emirati culture and Islam. We broke fast side by side with strangers from around the world and Emirati volunteers. We went to a mosque where we were allowed to stay during the evening call to prayer, a rare opportunity for non-Muslims. The evening ended with an open forum for asking questions. Questions were asked about women's rights, national dress, crazy driving habits and everything in between. An amazingly enlightening experience, even after living here for almost two years.

We don't know if we'll be in Dubai for another Ramadan, so for now, I remain thankful that we've been given the chance to experience it, and have our hearts and minds forever changed in the process.