Hello!
How are you all doing! This week is starting off great. Well actually as we are already at Monday that means there is only 3 days to go, half way there!

It’s Ellen’s birthday on Wednesday so we are celebrating by staying the night at sealine resort on Thursday and spending following day at the beach and pool and generally hanging out. It such a lovely place and surrounded by dunes. That’s the place where we go out to go dune biking. I took Matt out there while he was here, although we almost didn’t make it due to the shitty sign positing and road diversions it took us 21/2 hours but should have only taken 1! woops

Monday is the end of Ramadan, finally!

Ramadan (in Arabic: رمضان, Ramadhan) is the ninth month of the Islamic (Hijri) calendar, established in the year 638. It is considered the most venerated, blessed and spiritually-beneficial month of the Islamic year. Prayers, fasting, charity, and self-accountability are especially stressed at this time; religious observances associated with Ramadan are kept throughout the month.Eating, drinking, sexual intercourse and smoking are not allowed between dawn (fajr), and sunset (maghrib). During Ramadan, Muslims are also expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam as well as refraining from anger, envy, greed, lust, sarcastic retorts, backstabbing and gossip. They are encouraged to read the Qur'an. Sexual intercourse during fasting in the day is not allowed but is permissible after the fast (when referring to sexual intercourse, it is intended to mean with one's spouse alone, as all pre-marital relations are strictly forbidden in Islam). Obscene and irreligious sights and sounds are to be avoided. Purity of both thought and action is important. The fast is an exacting act of deep personal worship in which Muslims seek a raised level of closeness to God. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm. Properly observing the fast brings on a comfortable feeling of peace and calm. It also allows Muslims to practice self-discipline, sacrifice, as well as sympathy for those who are less fortunate, which in turn makes Muslims more generous and charitable.

This means that the shops have funny hours and little is open during the day. We usually order in lunch as there is no where to buy at work, but during Ramadan restaurants are closed during the day and we have a special room for us, non-fasters to eat so we don’t do it in front of those fasting. It is actually illegal to eat or drink in public during this month. They break there fast at sundown which is around 5:30pm and from that point on there is a whole lot of eating and traditional celebration.

There are fabulous tents set up around the place, especially in Hotels and clubs. People attend these tents with groups of friends and family and get together to eat. There are huge amounts of traditional Arabic food and sweets as well as local entertainment. These festivities last long into the night and it is not uncommon to see people frequenting coffee shops and cafes till 1-2am! Our work hours have been cut by an hour and so we only work from 8am – 2pm. At which time often it’s home to have a small snack and then sleep for a couple of hours as there is nothing else to do. Heading out to sport or other engagements at 6 or 7pm and then for dinner at 8 or 9pm. It is unusual for us to be home before 10pm or later and usually in bed by 1am.
Shops don’t open till 7:30-8pm during Ramadan so there is nothing much to do. The only good thing is that there are hardly any cars on the road until about 8pm, then everyone is trying to get somewhere!

So that is Ramadan. It started about the 24th September and will continue till the 22nd or 23rd October at which time they have a four day Eid holiday. I am heading to Oman for 4 days with 2 friends. So I’m really looking forward to that will be good to get away from all the stress and fury of the Village as we boldly head into Games Time Operation and craziness!