November 24, 2001

Ramadan Meal in Bethlehem

Today I was invited to a special treat, the Ramadan evening meal. My friend Ra'ed invited me and his friend Muhannad to join his family for the celebration. It was excellent, and I am stuffed.

Ramadan is the Islamic holy month. During the day Muslims eat and drink nothing. No snacks, no water, nothing. But when the sun goes down, they enjoy a big meal. And tonight I was lucky enough to be invited.

Personally, I like the idea of fasting. I think it can be a great spiritual discipline. Use the time to deny the body and focus the mind. Pray. Get close to God. Muhannad cracked me up though. He said when he fasts, all he thinks about is food.

Ra'ed mother treated us to a delicious assortment. We had a big plate of rice and almonds. We had rice and meat wrapped with grapeleaves. We had zucchini stuffed with rice and meat. We had grilled chicken. We had sort of a shredded wheat pastry. We had rosemary tea. Superb. Very nice meal. I said "zaki" (delicious) every time I tried a different food.

Ra'ed mother did not join us. Only the men ate while I was there. Before and after the meal we watched a little Arabic TV. We watched Al-Jazira news and also an Arabic candid-camera type show. It was pretty funny. Later we went to the Beit Sahour Internet cafe where Muhannad taught me a few things. We looked at the family olivewood website which he was working on. He also took me to a few sites that might be useful for later website work. He showed me some of his Photoshop images. They were quite good. I will provide a link when I get the address. I'm hoping that Muhannad will teach a Photoshop session for my Internet for Advocates class.

No photos today. The folks at Katholische Messe still have my camera.