Ramadan Culture Shock

As you may or may not know Sunday was the first day of the holy month of Ramadan. It is a lunar month measured from crescent moon to crescent moon. During the daylight all Muslims fast from food, water, tobacco and sex. The reason behind the fast is to feel as the poor feel. I think this is a wonderful idea and I am in awe that the entire nation unites under Ramadan. All the restaurants are closed during the day and the superettes open at four to give people time to shop. Everyone one gets off of work at two, at which they rush home and sleep. Its scary to be stuck in the crazy traffic, all the workers rushing home to sleep. After a certain point in the day the streets are deserted. Then at around 7:30 everyone breaks the fast. The entire family comes together every night. We usually go to my host Grandmothers house. She doesn’t speak a word of English but I’m pretty much in love with her. She points at me and says “Binty Binty” (daughter, daughter) and then kisses me and holds my hand (Tunisians great by kissing each other on both cheeks. I have just now gotten the hang of this). We eat in her lovely home, which is about 15 minutes away. The food is traditional Ramadan fare. For example today we had eggplant with meat and cheese. Tunisian meals consist of many courses and during Ramadan they always have Briq as one of the courses. It’s a egg fried in a pastry shell, the yolk remains runny and you suck it out. Sounds gross but its pretty much my new favorite food, although I try to only eat half of mine cause I’m pretty sure its 100% fat. After the meal the family watches some TV and plays cards. I learned a new game called “Scurba”. Slim got a little frustrated teaching me cause I’m so bad but its fun anyway. Then everyone heads home and goes to bed around one or two, ready to wake up at five and have a huge breakfast before starting the day.
I was going to try to join the fast but my family won’t let me. They tell me its too hot not to drink water. I’m pretty sure Selwa’s main goal is to get me so fat I need to by two tickets back on the plane. But don’t worry too much I’ve figured out a system. I eat breakfast in the morning (Coffee, Juice, dates and weird toast with Nutella) and then I don’t eat until night but I tell Selwa I ate at school. She’s wise to me however and sulks whenever I turn down food. I feel bad but it must be done or to quote my host cousin Slim “your family wont recognize you when you come back.”