My First Arabian Experience

Last night, our superintendent treated us to dinner at a wonderful Arabian restauraunt. Sounds ordinary, right? Well, hold on to your hats, folks, because it was no ordinary dinner. We had an Iftar. What is Iftar? I'll tell you! Iftar is the meal Muslims eat when the sun goes down during the holy month of Ramadan. And by when the sun goes down, I mean literally when the sun disappears behind the horizon. It was buffet style, and people had plates and plates of food sitting in front of them, waiting for the sun to go away and the official word that the sun had set. It was the call to prayer, only it really was the call to eat.

The amount of food was staggering, and as my friend sitting next to me said, "They sure do know how to eat here." There were salads of all kinds, various and sundry varieties of hummus, potatoes, vegetables, meats, rice, breads, and lastly, but certainly most importantly, desserts!!

So, it was an Arabian experience, with Arabian food and the Arabic teacher telling us a bit about the traditions, but for all that, it really seemed like Thanksgiving. So, imagaine, if you will, a month long Thanksgiving time - that's really what Ramadan is, a time to focus on the good, on things spiritual and kind, on service to your fellow man and God, and to spend good time with family and friends.

Ramadan Kareem! (Blessed Ramadan!)