Following the Moon

After about a month-long build up, Ramadan has finally arrived. For weeks we’ve been hearing cabbies talk about the upcoming fast with a mixture of excitement and dread, listened to cashiers tease the Ramadan sales and noted our workers taking later and later lunches in preparation of the fast. Now that it’s begun, we can’t really help but want to be swept up in the communal rite. Islam is so pervasive here, it seems only the tourists and expats are left indulging in food, drink, smokes and sex during the daylight hours. There’s a great sense of Moroccans enduring and celebrating something together, and we’re left out like orphans looking through the glowing windows onto another family’s holiday feast. Well, except for the fact that the orphans are feasting, while the family is not, but you get the idea.

Though we’re a bit curious to know if we’ve got what it takes to fast for four weeks (okay, those who know us know we’d last about a day!), we decided against it after hearing a fellow expat’s story. She runs a chic riad in Marrakech and in deference to her Muslim staff, decided to keep the fast along with them. A few days into it, one of her employees asked her if she was Muslim. When she replied no, the woman persisted by asking why on earth she was keeping the fast. Our acquaintance’s “out of respect” reply elicited a snort from her employee and she explained, “If we weren’t Muslim, none of us would be fasting. You’re crazy.” Enough said. We’re happy to learn from the lessons of others, but it hasn’t staunched our interest in the rituals of Ramadan.

Samuel’s now-favorite pastime is to ask every Muslim how the fast is going. "Having a good fast today?" he inquires with a smile. "First few days not so bad," he says, rubbing his tummy. Of course he's been pretending to keep the fast, too, telling anyone who asks that he's "right there with them." Oh, the travesty!

Since Muslims follow a lunar calendar, Ramadan does not fall on the same dates every year. In fact, the holiday moves ahead each year by roughly two weeks, which means that by 2010, the year Morocco is gunning to have 10 million tourists visit the country, Ramadan will fall squarely in the month of August. No food is tough enough, but no water when temps are 110-degrees and above and you’ve got pesky tourists clogging the streets is downright lethal. We spoke to a taxi driver the other day told us he celebrated his first Ramadan 30 years ago during August and every one since has been a cinch. Boy, in a month, these belt-tightening puns sure are going to seem old.