pics of the day... Ramadan in UAE...

another pic of the day...

from one of the local mall parking lots... red light for full parking spot, green light to let you know that the spot coming up is empty, and on each floor indicates how many empty spots are available on that floor...

pic of the day...

from our Aloft pool... they put this up after their last huge night time pool party..

ramadan kareem!!

so it is august 11th, which means ramadan is upon us... this is my first time experiencing this side of the culture... for the most part, everyone takes part, like how everyone takes part in christmas and easter for christians...

so, all muslims will not eat, drink, or smoke, from sunrise to sunset... then a lot of muslims will gather and pray, then celebrate with a large Iftar dinner, with family and friends at sunset... also a time to give back by donating to charity or other ways to help those less fortunate, very big during ramadan... the biggest thing is it is supposed to connect you with god more, to understand your faith more, kind of like how christians are supposed to treat Lent...

sometimes people forget we are in a muslim country, with the ton of available bars, and the emeratis and their high end hotels and porsches/land rovers, but apparently ramadan really brings out the muslim faith and for this month, it is the holy month, so even the most secular muslim who might drink and have prostitutes is supposed to be extremely holy during this month...

so the only thing for non fasting folk is to not eat or drink in front of someone who is fasting...

it will be interesting, because most of the shops and restaurants will be closed until 7pm, then they stay open until 2am; malls, restaurants, etc...

i have already stocked up on beer!! hahaha...

but you can go to some places, and they set up special tents and screens for non fasting folk to eat... just that your options are extremely limited, so i will probably eat at home more, and of course at work away from the fasting muslims...

take care everyone, see you in october...