Advertisement
Published: August 4th 2011
Edit Blog Post
August 1st marked the beginning of Ramadan, the holy Muslim month in which followers fast from sunrise to sunset. August is also the hottest month in Syria, and many countries in the Middle East, so fasting continues on for hours. Fasting in this definition include the abstinence of any food or drink during daylight hours. It begins at around 4:00 in the morning and continues until 7:40 at night. Ramadan began when my father and I were in our village two hours north west of Damascus. I met a farmer (also the village mayor) who had been working on his fields and fasting at the same time. The amount of water lost just standing outside in this humid area is enough to cause dehydration, and yet here he was talking to us as if it was an ordinary spring day.
Later that evening, a religious man from Tartus came to visit us and assist me in my research. He prayed privately fifteen minutes before iftar (breaking the fast) and then was invited to dine on the delicious food my great aunt set before him. When I realized that my aunt had spent the entire day cooking the feast in a
broiling kitchen without food or drink for over twelve hours, I was astounded. The truth is that during Ramadan everything in society slows down- business, commerce, work, school, etc., and the only thing that increases is the work in the kitchen. It seems that the women have the most important job of all during Ramadan because every evening they prepare the food that nourishes the empty stomachs of family and friends, all the while abstaining from food and drink as well. It takes extraordinary will power to perform such a feat, and yet thousands to millions of women across the Muslim world are doing it every day. Beyond doubt, women are the unspoken heroes of this month.
Ramadan is quite a special experience in Syria. Every morning during day break, a canon is fired at the top of jebal kasoum and is heard throughout the city to mark the beginning of the fast, and again at dusk to conclude its end. As soon as the sound is heard, mosques echo for the call to prayer. A sort of hush and calm falls over Damascus as you know that hundreds of families are breaking their fast together at that moment. It’s quite spectacular.
A few hours after the iftar, people pour outside and bring the streets to life. There are vendors selling all kinds of spices, sweets, fruits, berries, dates, rose water, and flavored drinks. There are also delicious pastries special to Ramadan, like ma’moul, a pastry flavored with rose water and stuffed with dates or walnuts.
Yesterday evening my family and I went on top of jebal kasoum and witnessed the spectacular view of the city below, which was breathtaking. There was something eerily strange about standing on top of an ancient mountain and seeing one of the oldest cities in the world bustle with life. Not counting the cheesy gulf music blasting from illegal stands, it was peacefully quiet, a pause in the windy life that is Syria.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.128s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 11; qc: 56; dbt: 0.0546s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb