Living and Working during Ramadan

Ramadan starts this week. It is the holiest time of year for Muslims. Things change dramatically during this month. We go to 6 hour work days out of respect for some of our fellow employees and our host country. So some time starting this week I'll only be at work from 9 - 3 and it will be that way for about a month.


A major part of Ramadan is prayer and spiritual reflection, but it's also about friends and family. Muslims fast from sunrise to sundown. Others are asked not to eat or drink in view of Muslims during the day, even water. If you're going to you, you are asked to do it behind closed doors out of respect for the their sacrifice. Once sunset hits though the fast is broken, usually with dates and juice or water and then 15 minutes or so of prayer and feasting will begin each night. The feasts are called Iftars and are held throughout the city and are usually free to everyone.

Muslims fast from about 4:30 am to 6:30pm which means no drinking anything and no eating. Obviously not everyone here is Muslim, but a majority of the Abu Dhabi population of approximately 1.7 million people are Muslim. An interesting side note is that there are many Christian churches here with the Catholic Cathederal boasting 100,000 members and they celebrate over 30 masses a week. Not all in English either.


In our little cafeteria they put up screens or room dividers along the inside of all the windows so if any of our Muslim employees walked by they would not be offended seeing us eating and drinking. If I went out to buy a sandwich and wanted to walk back here with it I'd be expected to keep it covered so it couldn't be seen. This is a serious issue here and literally people can be arrested for flaunting the rules of Ramadan. You definitely don't want to be walking down the street eating or drinking in public. All women are also asked to dress more modestly by wearing long sleeves and showing less skin. Imagine that in 110 degree weather?

I actually worked a little later than we were supposed to today and was in the office from 9 - 4pm. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with the other 17 hrs. I will actually take care of a few of those in the early morning hours tomorrow with 9 holes of golf in 90+ degrees from 6:30 - 8:30. Long pants are mandatory though.

What's the future hold? I'm working on getting my drivers license changed over so I can lease a car and I need to get my alcohol commission card so I can buy alcohol. I'm also starting to look at places to live.



I'll let you know how all that goes.

Wayne