My first Ramadan that was

When I decided to come here, I was prepared to embrace the adjustment of being in an Arab country.  I had a little adjustment than expected since this is an open city.  That means we can dress freely (but I would say that to bare some flesh is “at your own risk basis”, no one will harm you except that the guys will be all eyes on you) and there’s no debate on faith and religion. Being in the capital city also made me feel just being in a modern day Makati, minus the traffic and pollution.

However, the biggest adjustment for me was my first Ramadan.  I wrote here how I survived the first week.  Surprisingly, it became naturally manageable in the remaining three weeks.  Though I am Catholic, I wholeheartedly did my “quasi-fasting”.  I see it that way because I did not strictly fast as the Muslims had.  I did not eat or drink from 7am (my usual breakfast) to 6pm.  While the Muslims, no intake from pre-dawn until sunset.

At first I was fasting because I had no options (but yeah, I tried to find the means).  Later on, I did like the benefit of it.  It’s actually healthy. And I liked the idea of sacrifice.  But I must admit, there were a number of times that I discreetly ate chocolate/ granola bar in the washroom (freaky and gross, isn’t it?).  Your guess is right, I did lose some pounds after a month.  However, I realized that it’s not conclusive that majority lost grams after the Ramadan.  I would assume that a number of people were like me, that was during the first week of fasting, was eating dinner like a monster. One of my monsterific ramadan dinners included chicken tortilla, tuna salad with vinaigrette, large fries, sundae and drinks:  munched in one-sitting (and with great speed).  So, it’s like offsetting for the skipped meals.

In general, the work schedule was shortened by two to three hours.  That would be the consideration for the hungry tummy (and minds).  But not all benefited from that schedule, it did depend on the industry.  I’ve talked to some Filipinos while queueing in the cashier in a supermarket/ fastfood chain inside the mall.  The mall hours were drastically changed. But the day rest was offsetted by requiring them to work until 2am.  I think though that’s fair enough.  It’s like serving what is intended. You’d only feel bitter if you don’t want to adjust with the reality.

My weekend malling was affected as well.  As much as I don’t want to be out late at night, I had no choice but to move my socials and errands near to 10pm (my usual weekend strolling is at Friday lunchtime after hearing the mass).  That’s the most reasonable time to move around since all establishments are opened.  As they say, the night is still young at midnight when it’s Ramadan.  I’ve also noticed that some of the malls turned to a mosque-like superficially (just like in the collage).  They must have spent much on those coverings.  There was also a giant quoran in Al Wahda Mall (see top photo). I was naturally aware of the more frequent praying since I live near one of the mosques.

Our company held an Iftar (evening meal for breaking the daily fast during Ramadan) in Sheraton Hotel two days before Eid.  It was like a feast.  I’ve taken dinner though before going there.  So I just feasted on the desserts and appetizers.  I crazily tasted everything that looked foreign to me.  I made face as I forcedfully swallowed some of it.   The foodie monster in me was so enjoying that time.  My Filipino officemates whom I was sharing the table with were laughing at me.  They know me, so they could not stop my silly adventure.  And they also know that I was sad in a way.  Why? We were sharing the table with a number of non-Filipinos (and of course, those around us), so I could not take photos of the foreign edibles.  I managed to take a few as shown in the collage.

Ramadan officially ended before midnight of September 29.  It depends on the moon sighting.  Hence, Eid ul-Fitr (Muslim Holiday that marks the end of Ramadan) actually happened that night.  The officials initially predicted that it would be the day after.  The declared special holiday in the Philippines should have been September 30 instead of October 1.  Either way, it’s still Eid.  The thought matters more.

Obviously, I am so happy.  Never thought this day would generously come. I so envied and missed the long weekends in the Philippines.  There’s no holiday economics here.  Oh well, yes.  We are on a holiday since September 29.  Work will resume on October 5, Sunday.  What am I doing then?  Lots of.  I’ll try to tell you next week.  Life is really fair.  I thought I won’t ever savour long weekend again.  =)