Ramadan Mubarak!

Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, began in Morocco last Tuesday, ushering in a new pace for daily life as the vast majority of the population fasts between dawn and dusk. I was in Niger during Ramadan last year, which had proved quite frustrating at the time because it posed additional challenges to my music research; additionally, because I was essentially living alone, I was pretty removed from any truly meaningful Ramadan experiences. Now that I’m living with a Moroccan family, I’m having a terrific opportunity to observe Ramadan customs in closer detail (even if there may be local differences here compared to Niger or any other country).

Foremost on the mind of pretty much everyone in the CLS program is the issue of fasting. A few students are fasting, and a few more are doing a partial fast (i.e., not eating food, but drinking water during the day), but most of us are not fasting at all. There’s much, much more to Ramadan than just fasting—things I certainly don’t begin to understand—but it is the observance that has changed our daily routine more than anything. Almost all restaurants and many stores are closed during the day, so those who are not fasting need to be sure to pack lunches to bring to class. Additionally, the meal schedule is shifted late as the last consumption before dawn occurs around 3 or 4am; as result, our classes have all been pushed back an hour later in the day to give everyone more time to sleep.

Even if we are not fasting, it’s also important to be mindful that most people around us, including most of our teachers, are, and that when we eat or drink in front of them it can be a cruel sight. Of course, not everyone agrees to what degree visitors to Morocco need to adapt their own lifestyles to respect or show solidarity with local customs, and while few Moroccans seem to expect non-Muslim Americans to fast, students have varying opinions on how much we should keep daytime food and water consumption private. It’s an interesting exercise, although it certainly doesn’t compare to the self-discipline involved with fasting.

I’ve been quite exhausted from the high intensity of this language program and knew that trying to fast throughout the entire month was not something I wanted to do or felt would be worth the additional challenges it would pose to my efforts on learning Arabic, considering that I’m not Muslim. But I did want to have a better grasp of what it feels like to fast for a day, and even though I still have little idea of what it’s like to fast day after day for an entire month, I’m glad that last week I at least went a day observing the fast. I found that by the far the hardest part was going without water for a day, and I’ve developed huge respect for my teachers in particular, who spend the day on their feet  and talking the entire day without a sip. But that period of not consuming anything, for me anyway, made breaking the fast at iftaar, after the sun sets, even more delightful than it had been when I didn’t fast. Taking that first sip of milk and first bite of a date after not eating all day was magical. There’s a whole array of special foods consumed at Ramadan, including several sweets. There’s also a lot of eating in general, which I really can’t complain about.

After iftaar, hordes of people flock to the streets or city center to celebrate the holiday, energized after the evening meal. I’ve yet to go out during Ramadan in Meknes, since I live far from the city center and have also been busy with homework, but my host family put on an impromptu dance party the other night. It was, of course, a lot of fun. (For those wondering, we did sing and dance along to “Saafi.”) I’m hoping that after my final this week I can get out to Meknes with my host family to see the celebrations in town.

I have a few photos and videos from the dance party, but I’ll share those another time. For now I thought I’d share a few highlights from Rabat, Morocco’s capital, which I visited over the weekend. It’s a beautiful city and certainly more cosmopolitan than Meknes, which meant that a lot of people were prepared to answer my poor Arabic (or—shhh, don’t tell—French) in English. The weather was about 20 degrees cooler than Meknes, which was probably the most welcome aspect of the trip; it felt like a miniature vacation of sorts. There are some lovely souqs  (markets), delicious street food and bakeries, and great music shops, but I wouldn’t necessarily say that Rabat is a must-see destination for sight-seers. This is fine with me; I welcomed the chance to take it easy for a couple days. The only challenge was finding something to eat for lunch: with everything in town closed and unable to find a grocery store during our walk around the city, we had to visit that iconic center of globalization, McDonald’s, where I got the “Royal Cheese.” I can’t remember ever eating in a McDonald’s in which the portrait of the King and the portrait of Ronald McDonald share wall space, but I can say I’ve done it now. What was probably more refreshing than anything was the fact that I had ice in my Coke, a small luxury that means so much when you spend the day walking around in the sun.
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