We have had a full week of Ramadan with our students. This can be a very trying time for them. Here is what a typical day is like for the older students during Ramadan. They fast from sun up to sun down. They arrive at school around 8:00 am and are in classes until 3:00. During this time, there are usually two breaks for snacks plus a 45 minute lunch. Almost all of the Muslim students fast so they try to find places to go on campus where the non-Muslims aren’t likely to be so they won’t see people eating or drinking any fluids. Then they go home after school and wait until after dark before they can eat – usually they have a large “iftar” meal with many courses of food. This may last late into the evening or early morning. If they have homework to do, they work it in before the large meal or after. The students who play sports come back around 8:00 for practice. After going back home, they may spend some time in prayer before going to sleep for a couple of hours. Usually around 3:00 am or 4:00 am they get back up to eat and pray before trying to catch a couple more hours of sleep before they get ready for school. With the way traffic is here, it often takes up to an hour to get to school. It can be a very wearing time for them. Many of the younger students fast as well. It can be very hard on these students as they are fasting for the first time.
Last evening, another couple (Tony and Dellaine) and us went out to eat at the Delta (a French restaurant in the downtown area). The Delta is well known for their beef steaks, one of the few places we have found where one can find a good steak. We left the school around 5:00 and the closer it got to 6:00 pm the quieter the city became as people were settling in for Iftars. In this city of 6 million people, it became very calm. After our dinner we drove over to the fort area along the Mediterranean coast. We stopped at a drive-up ice cream place. The shop is right along the street and when customers pull up to the curb, someone comes out and takes your order (kind of like the old drive ins that were plentiful in the states in the 50’s and 60’s). When we got back to the school we played a couple of games of 500 where the men continued their dominance.
Pat hasn’t felt the best for the last couple of weeks. She has had a bad cough and has felt run down. We decided that maybe we should see a doctor. We called the school nurse to find out her recommendation of who to see and she arranged for one to come to the school to take a look. I guess this is not all that unusual for doctors here to still make house calls. Later on, we walked down to San Steffano with the intent on attending a movie. The mall closed down from 4 to 8 because of Iftars – only the food court and Metro (the large grocery store) was open. We decided to eat at Café Noir (a nice little place we have been to several times). We were the only customers and there were very few in food court area. We left around 6:00 pm and walked back to the school. Twice on the way home we were invited to gatherings of people on the street who were set up for Iftars. One man was walking along offering people fresh dates (his way of giving during this holy month). Exactly at 6:00 the prayers began and they began serving the food. It is so unique to see and experience this sharing.
