First Day of Ramadan

I was at the bus station today, waiting an hour for a bus. The islands where one waits for busses, normally full since the drivers must leave the busses while they take a required break, were almost half empty.

To get to the bus station, I waited an hour for a bus at the Ibn Batutta Mall (which has an excellent historical exhibition), and finally took a private bus.

Islam says that Muslims should break their fast promptly at sunset, and UAE law requires that most businesses must let their workers out early enough they can make iftar on time. Those who have to prepare iftar were crowded into the supermarkets around 5 p.m. (I was in the Carrefour’s by the bus station; all the stations were open, and all had a long queue).

By the bus station, an iftar provider had rolled out two 30-meter rolls of plastic table coverings in parallel strips. Lined up along both rolls were 100 ml cartons of juice, and on a large table they had laid out an iftar buffet. The savoury aroma reminded me, sharply, that I hadn’t eaten all day, and I really wanted to buy some of the fried items (deprecated by the local newspapers) to take home, but my bus came and I went home to an iftar of salad.