Ramadan

Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and a deeply significant time for Muslims, just ended. During this month, all health adults fast from before dawn to just after sunset as a way to remember God and those less fortunate than themselves. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam and is a duty enjoined upon all Muslims, with exceptions for the sick, the elderly, pregnant and breastfeeding women, young children, and travelers. During the day, many people devote extra time to prayer, reflection, and reading the Qur'an. There is a mosque just around the corner from our apartment, and we often heard the call to prayer. Dozens of men would line up for Friday prayers, and the beautiful, melodic words of the Qur'an would echo up from the street below.

 Some people had to work during the day, like normal, but students and people on summer vacation from work often sleep late into the day, until 2 or 3! The evening call to prayer depends on the sunset time, and in July was at about 7:45pm. The streets were utterly silent at this time, as everyone was at home to break the fast with their families.

The most important part of the meal is harira, a tomato based soup made with onions, small noodles, chickpeas, and sometimes lentils, and flavored with sheep bones and bits of meat. Just before serving, a pat of rich, savory cultured butter is dropped in, and an egg is cracked directly into the pot.

Dates and chabakia are also key! Dates symbolize hospitality and health, and are severed at weddings, feasts, and many other special occasions in Muslim cultures. Chabakia are a type of traditional sweet made from fried spiced almond dough soaked in honey and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. These two sugary treats are wildly delicious after 14 hours of fasting.

Hard-boiled eggs sprinkled with cumin, salt, and pepper are always on the table, too. People sometimes eat them with bread, or break them up and put them into the soup.

After the meal, most of the men go to the mosque to pray, and families relax at home. They spend time together and watch popular Ramadan TV series, which last for the 30 days of the month. A few hours after the break the fast meal, around 10 or 11, the streets are filled with people - walking, shopping, eating in restaurants, hanging out in cafes, and meeting friends.

The early morning call to prayer happens around 3am, before any sunlight appears in the sky. This is also the time you have to stop eating and drinking. Some people go to sleep around 10 or 11 and wake up for the suhor meal, others just stay up the whole night. Fruit, bread, milk, and sometimes more chabakia and dates are common, followed by lots of water.

The first week of Ramadan was hard - I was utterly exhausted all the time, even after eating in the evening. When I woke up in the mornings, around 12 or 1, I would lie in bed for 2 or 3 hours pondering existence. After the first week, it got easier. I would meet with friends to walk around the city, read, and help friends prepare food for the evening meal. By the end of Ramadan, the schedule felt normal. We slept until 3 or 4pm, then watched movies, talked, or wandered around the city for a few hours until it was time to eat. Then we'd go out to cafés with friends until it was time to go home to eat at 2am. The whole city felt different, calmer and friendlier. Some of my Muslim friends said they didn't like fasting and were impatient for Ramadan to end, but most loved the time spent with families, the traditions, and the sense of closeness to God that it brought them, and were really sad when it ended!

 The upside was all the delicious treats on Eid, the festival at the end of Ramadan. Many families spend the last week preparing all sorts of cookies and cakes - crescents filled with almond paste, crumbly ground peanut cookies, date paste wrapped in little circles of pie crust, corn starch cookies dipped in chocolate, orange-scented sugar cookies, and ground nuts wrapped in phyllo dough before being baked and soaked in honey.

Many people are on a late schedule, and don't even sleep the night before, since the festivities start at 7am. Men go to the mosque, and then families eat breakfast together around 8am - tea, coffee, bread, and lots of cookies! The day is spent at home with the family and going out to visit relatives and friends. I spent with day with the family of some of my close friends here.

Ramadan was a wonderful experience that allowed me to feel a sense of camaraderie with my Moroccan friends, and to see and a traditional, intimate part of the culture that I otherwise would not have experienced. It was filled with friendship, generosity, goodwill, laughter, and delicious food! Ramadan Mubarak and Eid Mubarak Said!