My first Ramadan

Ramadan is about prayer, fasting, charity and community.

Algeria's population is 99% Muslim. I know very little about the culture and religion here, but am learning more each day. Ramadan, which began on Sunday at sundown is a 30 day period holy period during which Muslims fast from before sunrise until after sundown. They then go to work or go about their daily lives fasting until after the sun goes down. They abstain from eating or drinking anything (this includes water) until late in the evening. Their days are filled with prayers and good deeds. They give to charity, visit the sick in hospitals, and send gifts to neighbors.

This year, Ramadan occurs during an especially trying time since the summer days are so long. The faithful rise long before the sun to eat a meal. I work in the section of the embassy with the largest locally employed staff - literally hundreds of people in my section are practicing Muslims. This includes facilities maintenance, local guards, gardeners and other who spend the majority of their days out in the hot sun. Today, the high temperature here was 94 degrees. Can you imagine going the whole day without even drinking water? I can't.

Tonight I shared Iftar with a group of our local guard staff. After sundown we sat outside by one of the guard stations and shared a meal that their wives prepared for them. We had chorba, a spicy soup; dolma, a mixture of tomatoes and peppers, and bourek, a specialty of Algiers consisting of mincemeat with onions and fried eggs, rolled and fried in batter. There was also khabz, a traditional Algerian flatbread. It was so kind of them to share their meal with me, even though I had not fasted!