A foodie in the UAE: Ramadan

This is my first post on our blog, not because I haven’t wanted to write or haven’t had the time, but because I have had so many new experiences and thoughts about this place that I’ve had trouble picking out one topic. I decided it’s best that I start with something I know well, so while Sam provides you with deep philosophical insights about life in the Middle East, I am going to periodically write about food – eating it, buying it, cooking it, and any other gastronomically-related activities that come to mind. Those of you who know me will agree that this is appropriate.

Eating has taken on new meaning since we arrived. Not only because the ingredients and dishes are different, but because we are in the month of Ramadan, which means Muslims are fasting (no food, water, or even gum) between sunrise and sunset for 30 days. At the same time, all residents and visitors to the UAE are required to respect the fast by not ingesting food, water or gum in public. This is a rule that is taken very seriously and is punishable by law, so that even at work there is a special “lunchroom,” which we have affectionately dubbed “the infidel room,” which has been set aside for all non-Muslim employees, complete with blacked-out windows and a screen in front of the door so that it is impossible for anyone fasting to see what is going on inside. If am hungry or thirsty during the work day (which I usually am within 15 minutes of arriving), I must leave my building, walk across the simmering parking lot, and up about 40 stairs to get to it. Seriously, not even sips of water at the desk are allowed.

Knowing that people are most cranky and least productive in the afternoon hours during a 14 hour fast, most businesses (including mine) close between 2 and 3 pm so that people can go home and nap during those most difficult hours before sunset. After sunset, the fast is broken with the traditional Iftar meal, a virtual feast, and the city comes alive with activity. Because of the shortened business hours, most need to re-open in the evening to make up for lost time. Thus, you can find pretty much any service available from 8 pm to 1 am (no lie – we had workmen in our apartment at 11 pm last night drilling holes in our concrete walls to hang curtains until we kicked them out in order to keep from being mobbed by our neighbors), which then means that people stay up to the wee hours of the morning, get a few hours of sleep, and then rise before the sunset to have breakfast, renewing a cycle of sleep-deprivation followed by hunger, followed by over-indulgence, etc, etc. We are about two weeks in to Ramadan now, and everyone is acting a little kooky.