Ramadan Fasting

On Thursday night the Imams and religious authority of Morocco saw the moon and proclaimed that Ramadan would start the next day. Ramadan is a religious festival that lasts 30 days and starts in mid September. It is one of the five pillars of the Islamic religion to fast during Ramadan. The rules are fairly easy to follow; from sun up to sun down you cannot eat or drink. People are not permitted to swim because they might swallow water and it can be absorbed through the skin. Of course there are some amendments to the obligation to fast. If one is sick, to young or traveling, they are not required to fast. If it endangers your health in anyway, you are not required to fast.

I decided I wanted to see what millions of Muslims around the world experience every year by strictly following these rules for a weekend. My fast started off rough. On Thursday night I ate dinner at 9 pm. And didn’t drink enough water half forgetting what I was getting myself into. My family didn’t know I was fasting so of course they didn’t give me any tips. So, I woke up on Friday, the first day of Ramadan, and went to Arabic class. Everything was good until I walked back to the center where Ibrahim had prepared an amazing looking lunch. I was hungry and thirsty so I went out side to write some emails on the terrace. The rest of the day passed slow, walked to the cliffs on the coast and watched the sun slowly fall. Walked home for the breaking of the fast with a headache because of nonexistent blood sugar and dehydration.

The hardest part of the fast is the hour at lunch (knowing your passing up a delicious meal) and the last five minutes leading to 6:35pm, but the moment the call to break the fast comes we dig in. The meal is already on the table in the salon and the tv is on. The meal consists of eggs (hardboiled/fried) plates of eggplant, fried tomatoes/bell peppers, a bean/lentil soup, bread, fried potatoes, these English muffin with cheese and chicken in them, perhaps some pastries with meat and an assortment of sweets. There are these sweets that look like fried octopus, but in fact its sesame and honey ground up…..they are amazing.

To make the day easier families usually wake up at about 4 in the morning on weekends to eat and drink for the coming day. I found that to be the hardest part. I woke up ate these pancakes things with melted butter and sugar and loads of tee and water. And then you go straight back to bed. Talk about a killer for your health/metabolism.

Sunday night, after breaking the fast (for the last time), I went to the hamman for the first time. Hamman is the word for bath. There are male and female hammans and you walk in strip to your boxers and walk it the room. Its three long tiled rooms split by a hallway, the first room being the coolest and the farthest room being the hottest. You sit on the floor and relax for awhile let the humidity loosen you up and then you go and start scrubbing with this exfoliating glove. Its amazing how much dirt you have on your body without realizing it. Basically because of the humidity and the glove you rub an entire layer of dead skin and dirt off your body! Its amazing. And they you soap up and scrub again, rinse off and your down. The process takes about an hour and is relaxing.

Because of the dehydrated/malnourished stated I had been in for the past three days the moment I exited the hamman I became seriously faint and stumbled my way to a stall to buy some water. Crouched on the side of the street and just drank. Almost fainting was not a nice ending to the weekend, but made me realize that fasting and then going into a steam room for an hour wasn’t the smartest choice. I was just trying to do what the Moroccans do and do it how they do it. Its amazing they do this for 30 days. Its Monday today and I just had an amazing lunch!

Some thoughts on the fast: horrible for your health and metabolism. Eating fatty/sugary food and then going back to sleep! Crazy. The things they eat do not replenish the body the way it needs to be and they consume SO much sugar in their diet. My dad is a diabetic and almost every other American student knows a diabetic in his or her family.