Doing Things Differently for Ramadan

I apologize for not being able to post more, but I will do my best to make up for it. Especially for those reading my blog who are looking to kill a bit of time at work!

1. Purchasing alcohol. First, it’s all about who you know, and who they know, and if the place you have been directed to has enough black bags in stock. When I had just about run out of adult-type enjoyable beverages, a good friend of mine, also in the same dire position as me, spoke with a good friend of his, and we both learned about this little store just off from the tracks that was still selling alcohol during Ramadan; an offense, which, if caught, can land the store owner in SERIOUS trouble. However, I learned over my few years on this planet the importance of knowing the rules, so you know how to properly break them. My friend and I went into the store, and the entrance to the alcohol section had its roll-up iron curtain rolled two-thirds of the way down. He went in first. Shortly, he came back out and it was then my turn in our tag-team adventure. I ducked under the iron curtain, and quickly began my search. As soon as I had a couple of bottles of wine and a case of beer in hand, one of the store workers came up to me, relieved me of my choices, and quickly scooted me back under the curtain. He then met up at the front of the store with my illegal purchases conveniently wrapped in black plastic bags. My friend and I quickly checked out, and we were kindly escorted to his car, our items tucked safely, out of sight, in the trunk of his car.

2. Shopping in general. Shopping for things is naturally a bit of a challenge for me, as I do not speak French or Moroccan Arabic, but I’m sure you can just imagine how entertaining it is to watch me try! Anyway, during Ramadan, I have now learned that employees are allowed, by law, to end their work day anywhere from one to two hours before F’tour (the breaking of the fast). Therefore, stores that would normally stay open, close for anywhere from an hour or two they simply closing up shop early all together.

3. Driving. This is simply an odd thing here in Morocco to begin with. Lights and lines are mere suggestions to the average driver. It was clearly someone’s job to put up lights and paint lines, but it is much more evident that it is everyone else’s job to ignore their hard efforts. Now, imagine your schedule: eat ‘breakfast’ at sunset (about 6:30pm), then eat ‘dinner’ from 9-11:30pm, sleep until 3:30am, eat at 3:45am, and by 4am, nothing is to pass your lips until the breaking of the fast at the day’s sunset. So, you haven’t eaten in a good twelve hours, you had a crappy day at work, and now you get to drive home with about 2 million other people, who are just as hungry as you and in also in a foul mood. Dad, I know you don’t care for the traffic of Minneapolis or even Sioux Falls, but those places (let alone New York City) have nothing on over 2 million pissed off, hungry people all rushing home to finally eat, drink, brush teeth, and/or have a cigarette. Thankfully, people are now no longer as insane when driving home at the end of the day, but lights and lines are still mere pretty things to look at when driving.