Ramadan is really bizarre, but it is cool / other assorted tirades

I had a miss conception that Ramadan was all about fasting. At night it is all about eating. I have yet to go to an Ishtar tent because I don’t want dates, hummus, and lamb kebob. I go home about 4 -4:30 during Ramadan. Feels good to go home with the sun still up. I eat once I am home around 5 or so. Then I have been having another meal later.
Basically I am eating breakfast and then going to work. So I am not doing the full sun up to sun down fast. But while at work I do not eat and I do not drink. Out front there are ZERO cigarette butts in the ashtrays. Zero. Usually there are tons. People just flat out stop smoking during the day. It can be done.
It is not that bad. You just work through lunch and rally. Everybody else did not have breakfast so I know it could be worse. When I skip lunch I don’t want my afternoon coffee.
This is my first Ramadan Weekend right now today it is different. I went to the Mall of the Emirates today to get some stuff and all the restaurants are closed in the mall. You can’t eat in public. I was told to not wear shorts so I did not. Many Westerns do. I have been taking Advil cold and flu to deal with the head cold I have. My stomach has been churning. Fasting while on antihistamines just ads a nice edge to the whole experience. You want to drink water but you just don’t. You just rally.
People race out the door from 1:30 to 3. Government gets off pretty early and then private companies over the next few hours. Most Westerns are shocked and think I am nuts to fast, but I mean it is only half the fast at best that the Muslims are doing. The first day was the hardest, after that it has gotten much easier.
K8T asked about pregnant women and do they fast. I don’t know. I will ask. I would assume not. This month is not about punishment at all. There is a lesson to learn behind it all but it is very much community based with the public eating at night outside. Basically the first day starts around 4:30 with sun up and then the next day starts 1 minute later. On the other end, the day ends one minute earlier as the sun sets, so after 30 days the fast is an hour shorter. But there are hard start and stop times. Every night at “official” sunset they set off cannons (dad) and everybody can eat.
Yesterday I looked out onto my balcony and there was a little tiny orange lizard. I am on the 17 floor and it is hot out there. I don’t know how that sucker got all the way up here, but the animal kingdom never ceases to impress. I tried to grab him and put him in some water but he was too fast for me. The little sum bitch was quick as hell.
New for the home front I have purchased the flight home. I literally did it just before I wrote this. I fly to London on December 9 and then off to Lisbon. I return to London on the 14th and then off to Los Angeles where I land I believe around 6 PM. I fly back to Dubai on the 27th of December. If the Saudi’s can see the moon after Ramadan and set the schedule right I will take advantage of two holidays and save vacation time. I am going to miss a big 4 day holiday on the 9th of December to get out of town. I appreciate the votes I got for a suggested layover. Mitch in Phoenix gave me a whole Thailand agenda if I went to other way around the world. I just did not have it in me to try and fold in a trip that deep at this time. I think when I return home the next time I can go east. I need to network with the boys at Z and get some Japan connections before I visit there. Save some money, make some friends, and see the human side of that country. Worth the wait.
Below is a photo of my 2009 Nissan Tida. This is how I roll. I am renting. Leaving my options open. It is a piece of shit but it is not cheap. Cars as a whole if you choose to buy are actually well priced over here. But I am not buying. I just need to be safe and I need to be able to maneuver in these tight parking lots.



The really good news is I have someone now to put in the passenger seat. She is a Brazilian hostess at a sushi bar. Go figure. I will not go into too much detail on the blog at this point, because I know the potential of this friendship and I don’t want to jinx it. She is from Salvador. No the city. And she is a gem. Both of us are new to Dubai and a bit lost over here and we have a great deal in common. I have spent hours with her and it has been really nice. As we are together we both at the same time look at each other and ask how did we get here? It is hard to explain but to find someone who can both relate to that feeling as well as being a beautifully lady who wants to see you and calls you to say hello, it is hard to beat. To put her into perspective, a photographer was at the restaurant doing some kind of shoot about the place or the food or something. Well it did not take long until he managed to fold her into a few shots. She will be in a magazine in a few weeks. I am not a Brazilian man, plus for her. She is not an American woman, plus for me. It’s all good.
American politics is in the stretch run. It has been a crazy few weeks. I am trying my best to pay attention so I am on top of it. Keep your reality filter glasses on as you listen to the American Media. They are in the gutter right now and they seem to have a death wish for their industry. I honestly hear things and read things that I can’t believe. There are clueless and stupid people telling us the news and they are not going to last. There is a weird and strange version of Animal Farm and 1984 and Porkys all put together. Everyone reading this who knows me knows where I stand on American politics. So I am not going to go off on some stump speech. I just am getting really tired though of what is being called journalism now a days. Some of it is just shit. It is agenda driven. Polls are taken and reported on to generate news. The same talking points across networks. The media is in the tank. Newspapers are an important part of a working democracy, but if they are full of lies and filth they won’t last. What used to be to most trusted names in news are now struggling to stay alive and they refuse to look in the mirror and as why. We are too dumb, we need them. They live in a fishbowl. I don’t know who said it, it is an old quote, it was some lady in New York after Nixon won the presidential election. She said something to the affect, “Nixon, how did he win, I don’t know anyone who voted for him.” Anyway, you get my point. There is a whole country (let alone world) out there outside of LA, DC, and NYC. OK, maybe that was a rant.
I am also just in denial that College Football is in full swing. I should be at Barney’s Beanery right now having Pilsner Urkel and chicken nachos talking to Female bartenders in tank tops from Texas. Ah Pasadena, a jewel of a city. I will find my way back again.
The construction around South Ridge is in full swing. There is a roof on the Dubai Mall. The Burj is looking better at the bottom. The area around it will have lots of water and it is taking shape. They finally cleaned the windows on the apartment and now when I look out you see farther and you really feel like you are up in the air. I have vertical blinds in the front room and curtains in the bedroom. The place has really come together.
I have gotten a few emails at yahoo and I get to them days late. Sorry about that. Mom you stay in touch and then I don’t reply. I just live in email for 10 hours and when I come home I just don’t want to touch a keyboard and type. Forgive me. Also I am trying to talk to everyone here on the blog. Unless it is personal, I like to stay in contact through this page.

BrotherBill