Reflecting on Ramadan

Ramadan is the time of year when many Muslims fast all over the world from sunrise to sundown. It’s been fascinating to live in a culture where this habit is lived out by the majority.

But all I can think of to describe this holiday is food, food and more food.

I have never eaten so much in one sitting in my life. Families come together nightly to break the fast starting with a drink that consists of figs, dates, coconut and apricot juice. It’s delicious!

Then comes one of my favorite meals here. It’s a typical Egyptian dish called Mashi which is eggplant, bell pepper, and zucchini stuffed with a seasoned rice that is reminiscent of mexican rice. Some form of meat is also present usually chicken, which is fed to you by the hand of the mother of the house, not awkward at all I promise(haha.) And thanks to my friend Mona, I had the pleasure of eating fried camel liver and raw salted fish this year.

Not my favorite to be honest but in typical Egyptian style, your plate is loaded beyond your ability to consume the food in front of you. Continuing on…there are also a plethora of side dishes that accompany the meal including but not limited to

• bird tongue soup(which is just a brothy noodle soup)
• a sort of pastry with ground beef
• eggplant that is rubbed in vinegar and stuffed with garlic and hot peppers
• and all the dips that go with the local bread here.
• And i can't forget the pickles!!!

During this feast an assortment of juices is available for you to drink like Guava, coconut, hibiscus, and shrub root drink called Rus-Rus and tastes like something from Willie Wonka’s Factory because of how many bitter, sweet, salty, sour flavors you get with one sip of this drink. After this feast, an obligation to drink

• a cup of tea,
• a cup of Turkish coffee,
• a glass of Pepsi(pronounced bebsi)

while enjoying the buffet of desserts they have layed out that look better than they actually taste. I wasn’t kidding when I said I could think of nothing else but the food for this holiday.