It's Ramadan in the Islamic World, a celebration quite unfamiliar to us in the West.
In a nutshell it is very similar though in concept with our Lent (i.e. lunar astronomical computations determine the beginning and end of the celebration), with the sharp difference that they actually stop eating any food from sunrise to sunset. For Lent, on the contrary, in the modern times we never stop eating, with the exception, on Easter, where some Christians temporarily switch to a vegan diet or limit themselves to only fish.
Obviously, children, the ill and the elderly people are waived from the fasting.
So, as it is an astronomical thing, each country appoints a team of scholars to determine the exact time when the sun rises or sets. They go into an astronomical observatory, check out the horizon, make observations, and relay the information back to the population. Mosques in every neighborhood use their megaphones to spread the word in a very similar fashion to the bells that the Catholic churches toll for mass.
What people do is to plan ahead. Routine is shifted a few hours earlier than normal in such a way that you have time to eat and get prepared for the really hard next 12 hours of starvation. If possible, some even work during the night shift and sleep over the fasting hours. It's not only the fasting they are trying to dodge out but the bruising heat in countries such as Pakistan and the Arabic world.
About two hours before breaking the fasting, preparations begin. Restaurants and families start cooking special dishes of the season and people line up to get their tables. TV shows relay the bespoke experts observations for the exact moment to final prayers after which worshipers start enjoying an amazing festival of delicious food and camaraderie. Restaurants offer special promos for the season and the best places are of course sold out.
In my experience living Ramadan in Islamabad and Dubai, in the context of the gastronomic and cultural aspects of the celebration, it is like having a Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner every twilight during thirty consecutive days. Absolutely yummy!
Ramadan Mubarak to my Muslim friends!
Moisés Jafet Cornelio-Vargas
About Moisés
Physicists, award-winning technologist, parallel entrepreneur, consultant and proud father born in the Dominican Republic.
Interested in HPC, Deep Learning, Semantic Web, Internet Global High Scalability Apps, InfoSec, eLearning, General Aviation, Formula 1, Classical Music, Jazz, Sailing and Chess.
Founder of pluio.com and hospedio.com.
Author of the Sci-fi upcoming novel Breedpeace and co-author in dozens of publications.
Co-founder of MunicipiosAlDia.com, Jalalio Media Consultants and a number of other start-ups.
Former professor and Key-note speaker in conferences and congresses all across the Americas and Europe.
Proud member of the Microchip No.1 flying towards Interestellar space on board NASA's Stardust Mission, as well as member of Fundación Municipios al Día, Fundación Loyola, Fundación Ciencias de la Documentación and a number of other non-for profit, professional organizations, Open Source projects and Chess communities around the world.
All opinions here are his own's and in no way associated with his business interests or collaborations with third-parties.