"...lots of praying and no breakfast"

It’s Ramadan in Jordan – or to be precise it is Ramadan everywhere but it is impacting us here. Ramadan is the holy month of fasting – observant Muslims do not eat or drink (or apparently most difficult) do not smoke from before sunrise at 4:49am to 6:37 pm. Nearly all restaurants are closed until 6:30pm but the more days we are into the month the more we hear about exceptions – the Starbucks drive through is open starting at 9:00 am and we heard about two cafes that are open for lunch. You need to hear about these exceptions because the cafes while they have gotten legal permits to be open – have to appear closed and so the drapes are drawn and you can’t sit on the terrace or near any windows.

Surprisingly, most Jordanians gain weight during Ramadan because at 6:37 pm (today’s time) families celebrate with large meals. It is a bit like Thanksgiving 30 days in a row. And certainly the crowd at the grocery store every day at about 3pm looks like a pre-Thanksgiving rush. I have been to several Embassy-sponsored dinners (called iftars) and tonight Dan is going to the home of a colleague and on Wednesday night we are both going out to an Iraqi restaurant with Iraqi friends of friends for iftar.

We are not fasting (unless you consider the fact that we can’t stop at Starbucks on the way to work fasting). Dan’s office is 2/3 Jordanian and so he is refraining from having coffee at his desk. My office does not have any Jordanians so I have a diet coke on my desk right now. In addition, our restaurant in the compound is still up and running – yesterday we had enchiladas for lunch.

We’ve been told that in Saudi Arabia and in Kuwait absolutely no work gets done during Ramadan – offices are open for an hour or so – maybe. Jordan isn’t wealthy enough to stop working for a month but most government offices and businesses close here at 2pm. Our own Jordanian employees are working a 6 hour day and my day while not shorter is definitely slower – fewer calls, fewer meetings.

p.s. before we knew we were Jordan bound – we fell in love with America’s statistically least favorite song which includes the refrain sung by children “Ramadan, Ramadan – lots of praying and no breakfast!” Order yours today.