Ramadan Kareem!

Here is the greatest thing to hit the streets of Cairo in awhile: Ramadan tuk-tuks. And now, I have one of my very own. I've ridden in the non-Ramadan adult version (3 wheeled death-trap, basically) once, but this one is much better: it lights up, it sings, it flashes,and it spins around, right on my kitchen table. And at the end, the driver and passenger are still intact. Since they're only available one month out of 12, they go fast. (Them and the swimming baby dolls. My friend said she arrived home the other day to see her husband standing in the kitchen in awe, watching his newly purchased baby doll frantically paddling around the sink).


And this is a Ramadan lantern, otherwise known as a "fanous." They're everywhere - hung in front of shop and apartment doorways, lining the streets, or placed in display windows. My favourite are the gigantic ones - almost 4 feet tall. (That's huge for a lantern, right?).

Toys, fanouses, streamers and firecrackers - must be Ramadan! Starting this past Saturday, 80 - 90 percent of this country began observing the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when they say Muhammad received the words of the Qur'an from Allah. Abstaining from food, drink, smoking, and sex from sunrise to sunset, it can make the day (especially mid-summer) pretty rough. But come 6:30 pm or so, it's time for "iftar" (breakfast) and partying. More calories are consumed during Ramadan than during any other time of the year - there have been PhD dissertations written on this one - and it's also meant to be a time of giving and sharing, with special attention paid to those living in poverty. Those who can't fast (physically and mentally ill, pregnant or nursing mothers, women on their periods) are asked (or their families are asked) to feed the poor to recompense (or, for those who are able, they can sometimes make up the days missed at a later time).

I have a love/hate relationship with Ramadan. Everything must be planned around it, and traffic is especially awful from 2 pm - 5 pm. Mid-month, people start to get a bit grumpy (especially taxi drivers who haven't had their cigarettes) and I start to get a bit grumpy about not being able to drink water in public. But the lights and the evening cheeriness, as well as the "iftar" invitations (Egyptian home cooking!) are great. And, as someone pointed out when I was feeling sorry for people not being able to drink water, it's a beautiful break from the monotony that often comes from living in poverty, as so many people here do. For a manual laborer working 90 hour weeks without weekends or holidays, earning barely anything, Ramadan is a time for family and festivities and intentional breaks. A whole month of sharing in communal celebrations around you - regardless of what you feel about Islam and Ramadan, that's still a beautiful thing.