Yesterday was the first day of Ramadan, and as a non-Muslim in a majority Muslim country I prepared myself and set out to try and get a sense of what this religious fasting looked like here in Egypt.
I ate leftovers and fruit in my cousin’s apartment, filling up before I left as I knew finding food outside would be difficult. I pulled up a walking tour on my iPod that visited eight mosques and Islamic structures and ended near Al Azhar Park, where I intended to watch the sunset, listen to the call to prayer and possibly people watch families picnicking the breaking of their fast.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to visit all of the sites and I never made it to the park to watch sunset. Fortunately, I got to experience Egyptian hospitality and broke fast with a family in the back streets of Cairo, truly giving me an experience of what iftar, the evening meal during Ramadan, is like.
What is Ramadan?
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and begins and ends with the sighting of the crescent moon and is observed by Muslims around the world.
The observance of Ramadan is practiced by fasting from sunrise to sunset. Exceptions are made for certain populations, but in general the majority of people do not let food or even water pass their lips during daylight, as fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam.
It is believed that the Quran, the holy book of Islam, was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed during the month of Ramadan.
A Cairo Walking Tour
Having only previously experienced Ramadan extremely peripherally (friends who are Muslim posting on social media with fasting tips or about their fasting experience), I was interested to see more up close what this religious observance was like in Egypt. I knew I would have to wait until sun down to get the most of the experience, and I had read that watching the sunset from Al Azhar park over the city is worthwhile and that some families may go to the park for some festivities once they break fast. Using a walking tour, I made my way along a route that took me past several significant mosques of the city and ended near the park.
I got off the Metro at the Sayyeda Zeinab stop and walked past the Sayyida Zeinab mosque before continuing on to the Ibn Tulun Mosque. At a roundabout, I stopped to admire the Refa’i Mosque and then made my way towards my final stop the Citadel before heading to the park. I walked past a sign indicating that I was heading in the right direction and where the turn off for the park was. Following the road, I took in my surroundings as it twisted and turned and turned from pavement to cobblestone. I could see some kind of fortress wall through the buildings and figured if I walked enough, I would eventually find the opening and entrance to the major landmark and tourist spot.
Making Connections on a People to People Level
I turned the corner on one of the narrow streets and searched to find the correct way to follow to try and make my way out of the labyrinth of alleys to the destination. My eyes landed on an older woman, sitting on a chair at the corner of a building who met my gaze. She reached out her hand to shake mine and I smiled and returned the gesture. She then motioned drinking to me and gestured back towards the house. I hesitated because I didn’t want to gulp down water under the hot sun in front of the people who hadn’t had any for nearly 12 hours at that point, but the woman and children standing in the doorway that the older woman had gestured too beckoned me back as well.
I made my way back and stood in the doorway and was handed a partially frozen bottle of water. As I went to stick it in my bag, again to be polite, she encouraged me to drink. I sipped some and dropped the bottle in my bag and then turned to return to my search. When I reached the spot where the old woman was sitting, she again stopped me and made some charade motions for eating. I looked back down the short alley that I had just come from and on the other side a group of young girls again beckoned me back. At this point, one of my travel lessons I learned during my Peace Corps service kicked in: say yes.
Breaking Fast at Sunset
I followed them back to their home and was invited in and offered tea. Through more charades and the brute force of repeating sentences in foreign languages until some semblance of understanding is reached, I was invited to join this family of six for iftar that evening, which would happen about an hour and a half from then.
I spent that intervening time alternating between greeting people who were brought into meet me, holding and bouncing babies on my lap, trying to understand and answer questions about myself and where I am from and learning how to play backgammon. As the father taught me how to play backgammon, as best he could through the language barrier, his four daughters and wife prepared dinner. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the call to prayer rang out and the seven of us gathered around the make shift table on the floor as they broke their fast for the day.
The rest of the evening involved lots of laughs and jokes, setting off firecrackers, small gifts of trinkets and more language-barrier induced confusion. Eventually, I was able to excuse myself and was escorted back to the Metro so I could make my way home for the evening and invitations to return the next day rang out after me. “Tomorrow! Tomorrow!”