Ramadan Kareem

*Ramadan Kareem!


Sorry I’ve been remiss in updating here. It’s been busy busy busy lately. Classes started on Sunday, and today ended my first week of teaching in Abu Dhabi. Here are a few of the many things I’ve learned this week, in no apparent order.


My students are wonderful.

I'm always nervous before the first day of school, especially before the very first day at a new school. And since it had been a very long time since I last started at a new school, and had never taught outside the US, I was extremely nervous. Would my students like me? Would they even understand me? Would I understand them? Could I remember their names? I had so many things to be nervous about. Today I can honestly say that I am not nervous any more.

Rather than feeling nervous, I feel incredibly lucky. I have a fantastic class of sixteen students. They are bright, beautiful young women, whose names I can (mostly) remember. (Give me a few more days and I’ll have them all.) And they all have a great sense of humor, as evidenced by their laughing at all my jokes. Most of my jokes.


People are people.

It doesn’t matter where you live, what language you speak, what clothes you wear – everybody everywhere has joy and despair, good days and bad, honor and respect. Of course, I knew this already. I’ve just had it reinforced.


Ramadan in a Muslim country is interesting, and sometimes difficult.

Ramadan, the 9th month of the Islamic calendar, began September 1st. In Ramada, Muslims fast during the daylight hours, abstaining from food, drink, tobacco, and other things. The dates for Ramadan shift in the Gregorian calendar because it is calculated in a lunar calendar. This year, it fell quite early in the year, so it is still very hot now. For example, the high temperature today in Abu Dhabi was 102° Fahrenheit; I think it was hotter than that yesterday. Imagine how hard it must be to work in this weather without eating or drinking!

During the month of Ramadan, people get up early to have a meal before sunrise. Shops and businesses open in the morning, then close for a few hours; most shops re-open around 7:00 or 8:00 pm, after sunset. For example, my school day is shortened; normally the school is open from 8:00 to 4:00; this month the hours are 9:00 to 2:30. After sunset, the fast is broken with a celebratory meal called an iftar.

Of course, non-Muslims are not required to fast; however, everyone is required to refrain from eating, drinking, or smoking in public during the daytime, and most restaurants are closed. Some Western hotels have a secluded, screened-off dining room for people who are not fasting. Similarly, in our school there are rooms set aside and screened from view for people to eat and drink if they want.

You might think that Ramadan is a nice break, and wish you could work from 9:00 to 2:30 every day. Let me assure that it’s not that great! I am still teaching the same number of hours that I will teach during the rest of the year; I simply have less time at work to prepare, mark papers, etc… Also, when I get home in the afternoon, I am very hungry and sometimes have a headache from dehydration. This is because, although I’m not fasting, there isn’t much time during the day to go to the special room for a drink or a snack.

Then, once I’m home and have had something to drink and eat (and sometimes a nap), there is nothing to do! Everything is closed, remember? Finally, when things do re-open, if you are without a car, you are out of luck. Last night around 7:00, a friend and I tried to go to a mall to do a bit of shopping and have a meal. We ended up back at our hotel because we couldn’t get a cab! All the drivers were at home having their iftar. I’m sure we could have found a taxi if we’d waited an hour or so, but we didn’t want to be at the mall until 10:00 or 11:00 pm because we have to get up and go to school in the morning.

I’m going to try again tonight.


*Ramadan Mubarek!


If you are interested in learning about Ramadan in the UAE, this is a good site: Ramadan Planner 2008. For more about Ramadan around the world, try this blog: Ramadan Kareem.

*Ramadan Kareem and Ramadan Mubarek loosely translate to Generous Ramadan and Blessed Ramadan, respectively.