Eid Mubarak

Well apparently we have survived our first Ramadan, as today is Eid Al-Fitr – which basically translates into the celebration of the breaking of the fast, or something along those lines. So only a few more days and then our world returns to some form of normality. AJA is closed this week for Eid and then it is only another month until the Asian Games begin when no doubt everything will be thrown into turmoil for a few weeks.

Over the past few days there have been many more cars parked outside the mosques than we normally see, with lots attending leading up to the end of the fasting month. Apparently this morning was the morning of the huge mass prayers in the larger mosques, Eid prayer grounds (big open plots of land scattered around town), and possibly in some of the stadiums… the rest of the day is for spending with family and friends.

Although we were told what we could expect from Ramadan including everything being closed, stores being low on stock, prices on many things going up, and just plain nightmare roads, most of it was pretty limited.

There was more traffic on the roads (especially around midday) because everyone was working the same hours instead of traffic (and the workday) being staggered throughout the day. Supposedly the workday was 5 hours long, although I didn’t see many working ONLY 5 hours apart from those in Govt Depts. Most shops were closed during the afternoon and early evenings… many closed between 12-8pm, but then most made up for it by staying open past midnight (although the hypermarkets seemed to be open even longer than normal). Our local food stores were closed between 5-7pm so staff could attend local mass Iftars, which were the breaking the fast meal provided free to low-paid workers each day during Ramadan (I don’t think it had that much to do with attending prayers). I suppose the best part for us though was getting to sleep in an extra hour in the mornings, as the school day for AJA was an hour shorter.

Of course there was the fact that no one was eating drinking or smoking in public during daylight hours, but this seemed to be made up for nicely once the sun went down. There was a news story in the paper yesterday by some Indian research Dept stating that smoking dropped by 50% during Ramadan because of fasting during the day and “after breaking fast they were busy with prayers and other activities”. I think “other” activities mostly consisted of eating, shopping and sleeping, all of which are rather difficult to smoke while partaking in. Qatar is full of rocket scientists!