Ramadan

Last Wednesday marked the beginning of Ramadan. For Muslims, Ramadan is a month of fasting where they abstain from eating, driking, and sex during daylight hours. (To learn more about Ramadan check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan).

Muslims will typically have a large meal in the morning before sunrise, fast all day, and they have a large meal to break the fast at sundown. In Malaysia there are a large number of "Ramadan buffets" that are active every night. Now I see only Chinese-Malaysians, Indian-Malaysians, and foreigners when I eat lunch in the mall. All on-campus food service is shut down during Ramadan (it must be tough for Malays working in the food service industry during Ramadan). Public buildings and some other work places close a bit earlier so that Muslims can reach home in time to break the fast.

I noticed today that the newspapers publish the official times for the start and the ending of the daily fast. Today the fast ends at 7:26 PM in PJ and KL. I will have to check whether people start looking at their watch more frequently as that time approaches.

Ain and Julie, the Malay graduate students at Tech, said that the daily fast lasts a lot longer when celebrating Ramadan in Lubbock than when celebrating in Malaysia because the sun sets so much later as you move away from the equator. I wonder how the Muslims make the daily fast in Alaska?!?

Ramadan Buffet at McDonalds!?!