Day 108: Ramadan and the Lively Cities - Amman, Jordan

(Him: Charlie)

Ramadan has always been a remote concept to me. I heard of it in Canada, but never really understood what it is, but this time Middle East, I was fortunate enough to experience this holy event.

As a background, Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Muslims worldwide observe this as a month of fasting. The month lasts 29-30 days. While fasting from dawn until sunset Muslims refrain from consuming food, drinking liquids and sexual relations. Ramadan is practiced as a way of reflection and to please god.

During the month of Ramadan, we visited two Muslim countries, Turkey and Jordan (Lebanon is actually 50:50 split between Christians and Muslim), and experienced Ramadan first hand – great experience!

First of all, as tourists, Ramadan could pose some challenges to us. Not only it was difficult to find food during day time, when we actually found it, we would also have to consume food and drinks discreetly as a courtesy. There were a few times where we forgot about Ramadan and almost had to starve for the day. But luckily, we were always able to find some restaurants open for tourists.

Inconvenience aside, Ramadan is an intriguing event and presented us some of the liveliest city life we have seen. Everyday, just before people break the fast, many families would gather in public space and prepare for the end of the daily fasting. You would see people sitting in front of food and drinks waiting for the Call to Prayers from the nearest mosque. It must be a great feeling to enjoy the food and drink after a day of endurance. As the night progresses, the city would become increasingly lively – street vendors chanting, cars honking, restaurants bustling – until 1-2am, creating a stark contrast from the streets during the day. For 30 days straight, the end of daily fasting was celebrated like a festival!

At the end of the Ramadan, people would celebrate it like people celebrating Christmas in the western culture (or so we heard). So I was really looking forward to the celebration. We even timed it such that we would “enjoy” this in a big city, Amman. However, what we didn’t know was that the “celebration” is literally the same as Christmas in the western culture, meaning people stay home and stores are closed. So on the day after the end of Ramadan, the street was essentially empty. Well, I guess that’s part of the experience/learning curve. Good to know.