Ramadan is coming to a close as the moon prepares to reappear as a sliver in the sky. Everywhere the signs read "Ramadan Kareem", which encourages generosity and recognition of the bountiful life we all enjoy.
When we arrived here last year, it was difficult to appreciate how much different Doha is during Ramadan compared to the rest of the year. There are far less people out during the day, as everyone is fasting, no food or water. The roads are quiet, until sunset, when you want to make sure you are off the road, as everyone races home for iftar. Iftar is the evening meal during Ramadan, where muslims break their fast.
We had a wonderful experience a week ago. We arrived at our favorite arabic restaurant, Al-Ennabi, just as the sun was setting. The owner of the restaurant was getting ready for Iftar, as we entered. We ordered 3 large chicken shwarmas, also know as "The Turkish ", (shaved chicken in a freshly cooked pita with yummy white sauce, pardon my drool) and waited for them in the heat of the restaurant (40C). The owner offered us orange juice as we waited as it was quite hot, the ovens are close to the fromt door and the small AC unit just can't keep up.
Once we finished our juice the owner insisted that we sit down at a table with him. He offered us a bowl of soup / broth. He asked us where we are from and how are summer had gone. It was odd receiving free food in a restaurant and that's when we came to the realization that he was serving us "Iftar". The juice, the soup, followed by a plate of spaghetti was his generous gift to us, perhaps a thank you for all the meals we had purchased in his restaurant the previous year.
The experience was truly wonderful, but I got a little worried when the spaghetti showed up. The plate was huge and spaghetti though simply prepared, nicely seasoned and very tasty. I was worried because we had ordered these jumbo shwarmas and they are absolutely delicious. My appetite was slowly waning and unlilke pizzas, shwarmas don't taste nearly as good the next day. To boot our son, Conor, was at home waiting expectantly for his meal.
As we finished our spaghetti, our worries were replaced by a sense of gratitude, not for the food as much as for being invited to share in this very muslim experience which highlighted what "Ramadan Kareem" truly means... genorously sharing what you have with others. We had a very nice chat with a man with whom we had shared a few hellos and thank you's. He was quite excited to learn that we would be heading to Turkey, his native country, for Eid, the celebration that marks the end of Ramadan. The greeting during Eid is "Eid Mubarak" which means ... "may you enjoy a blessed festival."
So, even though Eid is the party, I have found this year's Ramadan to be peaceful time. I look forward to it next year.
Rather than adding a new post
Here are a few shots of our beautiful Kalamlka lake in Vernon and our return trip to Doha ...
The mountain in the background is an extinct volcano called Camel's Hump. It was blowing its top about 60 million years ago. Notice the haze from the forest fires, a yearly summer occurance in BC.
Middleton Mountain and Kal lake from our temporary hangout at the Maguire's.
Sovereign Beach a little jewel that not too many people know about. Got lots of reading done on that beach this summer :)
On our trip back to Doha we had an overnighter in London, so we made the most of it! Last time we were here was early June, in coats. Much more pleasant this time around.
We found another one of our pubs on the list, unfortunately it was closed, on a Saturday night at 7 pm.... Its in the business district.
This is a great idea, Its bar on a bike. You pedal while sip your favorite pint. The chap at the front is steering and as far as I could tell, drinking water. Every one who is seated has a set of pedals.
Picadilly at night before we headed to the airport... it was 5 pm in the afternoon for us, but we had been up most of the night on the plane... Our flight left 4 hours late, hydrolic fluid leak in the landing gear... Ayuh, we want to make sure that's working ok !.... Trouble is you don't find out for sure until the wheels hit the tarmak 8 hours later.
