Ramadan Kareem!

Today is the first day of the holy month of Ramadan and so I wish a very blessed month ahead.

The decision was announced yesterday during a ceremony that took place at the King Hussein Mosque. The start and the end of Ramadan are decided after the sight of the crescent moon, known as Hilal. According to the Jordan Times, the sighting did not take place in Jordan, but the decision has been based on Astronomical calculations, and it is the first time that astronomy decides when the Holy Month is to start, this is despite a local fatwa, a religious edict, which says that the crescent moon must be seen by at least one person, in order for Ramadan to start. The Holy Month lasts for 29 or 30 days until the next new moon. The sighting took place in Saudi Arabia and other countries of the Golf, though.

So what does it mean for us? well what have I discovered? I went to do grocery shopping this morning at Cozmo and it was business as usual - Safeways looked closed though - but then I don't really go in the morning so I don't know! Restaurants are closed during the day, only hotel restaurants are open as usual, you can get alcohol. I went to pick up Bobs at the hotel just before Iftar (the meal Muslims eat when they break fast after sunset) - and the roads were very deserted at that time. Some of my friends have told me to stay away from the roads a couple of hours before as drivers are tired, hungry and want to go as fast as possible to wherever they are heading. Tonight our street is very quiet, we usually have kids running around playing outside, couples on an evening walk... One more thing is that all business times are reduced, and that means that Bibs will see her Daddy more during this month. I am sure that I will discover more as time passes.