Ramadan

Ramadan started last week. I was gone to England so I dropped back into a slightly changed culture. Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar based year, is the holiest month of the year. For Muslims, this means fasting (no food or drink) and abstaining from smoking, sex, and other niceties of the world from sunrise to sunset. This is done to commiserate with those who suffer on a daily basis throughout the world. They are also expected to be charitable (2.5% of gross is recommended), visit family and friends, and reconnect with those they have lost touch with.

At work, we adjust our work schedules to allow our Muslim controllers to spend a majority of the daylight hours at home, so consequently, we westerners are coming in late in the mornings and going home early in the evenings.

As visitors in this country, we are expected to respect the traditions of Ramadan by refraining from public eating, drinking, smoking, and public displays of affection during the daylight hours. Many businesses close during the day and stay open til the wee hours of the morning. Restaurants will only sell carry-out, which you take home and eat in private. Many bars are closed and there is very little music or live entertainment.

Iftar is the breaking of the fast and is one of the more enjoyable parts of this tradition. Many places have awesome Iftar buffets in the evenings. The Muslims prepare large meals for the evening, so inevitably, alot of leftovers and treats wind up at work...nice! The donuts are deadly.

There are a few issues that we Westerners do wonder and worry about. For instance, since the fast is based on daylight hours, what about a pilot who wakes up in Sydney at 8am, fasts for the day until his 2pm departure time and then is fasting for another 14hrs on his flight to Dubai which gets in just before sunset. Is he/she really in the best of shape for flying after 20+ hours of fasting?

As controllers, we also have to know what time sunset is locally...pilots do ask!

It's a very interesting time to be in Dubai. I will also be in Cairo before the end of Ramadan and I'm curious to see if/how it differs.

Fortunately, we can still drink our liquids on the golf course, since there aren't many Muslim golfers out on the course during Ramadan.

Ramadan Kareem, Y'all!