Did you know there is a Barbie with "Muslim values"? Maybe there should be a Ken doll with "Family Values"

I just saw that J.Crew online has a shirt that has "jellaba" as part of the title. The jellaba, or gellabia as it is pronounced in Egyptian colloquial, is the long dress-looking garb of men and women that is loose fitting and has long sleeves. Not exactly a cute and hip see-through shirt with a plunging neckline, but this is fashion for you!

Only 4 days into Ramadan I decided to give up fasting. It was complicated, but my stomach threw the other, more philosophical, reasons over the edge. Being hungry was ok, but I have a notoriously sensitive stomach and I think being overseas causes enough stress for it without anything additional. I will still fast once in a while, but not with the same strictness. That aside, what is Ramadan like in Egypt, you ask?

Egyptians, or Cairenes, rather, are often looked down upon among the other Muslims for partying a little too hard during Ramadan. : ) People joke that because of all the sweets eaten after iftar, the breaking of the fast, right now around 5:30 at night, people actually gain weight. Eating, drinking, sexual activity, smoking, etc. are all forbidden during the hours between Suhoor (in the morning around 4:15 am when most Muslims wake up and eat a small breakfast) and Iftar, which leaves the technical questions about what is acceptable post-iftar. For many Muslims, it doesn't make sense to not smoke during the day and then smoke constantly during the evening, but for others this is what happens. Iftar is usually a big family event, with prayers followed by breaking the fast with a date (after the tradition of Mohammed) and then big dinners with lots of special Ramadan sweets. Ramadan is also paradoxically the biggest season of giving and the biggest season of buying; I saw a note in the paper about recording artists timing album releases for this time. Not so different from the Christmas season is it?

When coming to Egypt all the expats tell you that Ramadan is exciting for the first week and then it really stinks because there is nowhere to get food without feeling guilty and being culturally insensitive, cab drivers are especially irritable and it is harder to get taxis during the early evening and late evening, and that everything in general just feels off. All of this is true, but despite all of the shortcomings and obvious contradictions in belief and practice, I'm glad that I can be here to see what it is like. The "Ramadan season" if you will, still has not reached the commercial extremes of Christmas in the U.S. and I hope it never does.

My friend Padmini sent me a note about the Ramadan lamps pictured in my last post, and I hope she doesn't mind me sharing it with you. Giving and hanging up lamps for Ramadan is, at least in Egypt, a longstanding tradition. Padmini shared an anecdote of Thomas Friedman in his latest book The World is Flat that the lamps used to be intricate and hand made and very beautiful, but due to safety concerns and economics the lamps are now much cheaper-looking and made in China.

Time to work on my 600 pages of this week's reading for my refugee class !!! I'm going to post a picture sometime of all of my readings stacked up. It's all extremely thought-provoking and great, although I usually have to have some hot chocolate or popcorn post-reading to convince myself that the world has some nice things in it.

I spent the past weekend in Alexandria enjoying the smaller city (still 5 million : ) ) life and clean air and first glimpses of the Mediterranean sea. It was much cooler and helped curb my jealousy of everyone getting the beginnings of fall. Two weekends ago after reports that my Grammy's art show in Gainesville had been great and that she had won 2nd place (go Grammy!) I wanted to be back in the US pretty badly to get to do all the fun fall things, but cooler weather here helps curb that urge.