Ramadan Iftar Parties

Iftar, made huge and fabulous.

Iftar

Iftar is the meal that Muslims share with their friends and family during Ramadan as they are breaking their fast from sunrise to sunset. Everyone sits together in anticipation, and at the sound of the Magreb (sunset) adhan (or in Egypt - the cannon!) everyone begins to dine together, starting first with Khoshev, and then getting to the main course and afterwards sweets.

The roadways when you are late for Iftar

It generally sucks to be late for meeting friends and family for Iftar. The one consolation is that after sunset the roadways clear up a ton making driving in Cairo a lot nicer than usual.



An empty roadway in Maadi just after sunset.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The people who stand at the side of the road to help people break their fast during Ramadan

In Egypt during Ramadan, right as the sun is about to set, you will find lots of helpful souls trying to collect their good deed points (hassanat in Arabic) by standing outside and offering bottles of cold water and dates to the unfortunate people who find themselves stuck on the roadways in traffic, or late for arriving at their final destination of food with family and friends. This considerate act is but one example of the many kind acts you find in Egypt on a frequent basis.

Blurry shot - but this is table ready with water to distribute

Ramadan TV Series

Every Ramadan, following iftar (breakfast, or break the fast), families gather around their TV sets and prepare for the best TV pickings of the year, the special Ramadan series which air every night during the month of Ramadan. Like month-long mini-series, the shows build on one another, so to "get" what's really going on, you probably have to watch each night.

Comedies, historic dramas, talk shows, candid camera, Hindi movies, and a whole lot of Egyptian series that look an awful lot like daytime soap operas, you have your wide pick of viewing. I must say, it seems to me the pickings get better each year.