Ramadan's Revenge
It's Ramadan time around here, which means no one eats, drinks, or smokes anything while the sun's up. They fill up EARLY in the morning and then again when the sun goes down. That is, for those that actually do it. Most people around here don't do the fast, and life for the most part doesn't change. I do get this strange sense of guilt when I drink water outside now. And, as is par for the course, I've had a couple of nice cultural blunders:
Last week I was talking to my neighbor while enjoying a delicious piece of fresh-baked bread. I offered him some and he politely refused, so I continued eating right in front his face. After I said goodbye and started to walk away, I remembered it was Ramadan time...
A few days ago a (non-fasting) friend and I decided to go play some basketball, so we headed to the court to find some people to play with. There were only 2 other people at the court, so we started a 2-on-2 game. They went up on us 15-0 at the beginning, but then we started really picking it up. My mid-range jumper started to fall, and I was running circles around the tired guy on the other team. My friend was grabbing every rebound, and we were having our way. The final score ended up being 30-27. I'm not sure who had 30 and who had 27, but who cares? We came back from a 15 point deficit!
I was pumped and seriously impressed with my friend and I's amazing basketball performance, until I realized one of the guys on the other team was fasting. The dude hadn't eaten or drinking anything ALL DAY and was out there playing basketball. No wonder I was running circles around him. Somehow, that made our amazing accomplishment somewhat less amazing.
"Yeah, we totally annihilated that team with the guy that was about to faint because he hadn't eaten or drinken anything all day!" That just doesn't sound all that inspiring.
The most frustrating part of the whole Ramadan deal for me is that some people fast from backgammon as well. I've come to love (and hate at times when the dice don't go my way) the unofficial official sport of the country. What better way to spend a morning, afternoon, whatever, than sipping some tea and playing backgammon? That'll have to wait for about a month, though, since my friend decided he can't play during Ramadan. I don't think that's actually written in their book, but I probably won't bring that up. I'll just be in practice for the great showdown about 3 weeks from now...
