David's Diary: Sunday, November 10, 2002

Ramadan in Tunisia

Tunisia is a Muslim country. One of the tenants of Islam is that followers must fast from sunrise to sunset during the holy month of Ramadan. Fasting means that you cannot eat, drink, or smoke during the day. Children and woman who are pregnant or breast-feeding are not required to fast. In Tunisia, citizens are required by law to follow Ramadan. The Islam calendar is lunar and this year's Ramadan fell from November 5 to December 5. For outsiders like us the changes during Ramadan are remarkable.

The first thing you notice is that all schedules change. Consider shopping hours. Normally, shops are open from 9:00 to 1:00, closed until 4:00, then open again until 7:00. These are typical hours in the Mediterranean countries that we have visited. During Ramadan shops are only open from 9:00 to 3:00. Times for swimming and tennis lessons change. Even Jocelyn's school schedule was completely different during Ramadan.

Bourguiba Mosque

Tunisian men like their cafes (you never see a woman in one). Before Ramadan almost every cafe would have many customers during the day. During Ramadan the cafes were either closed or were empty. Every day a loud sound like a canon going off would issue from the Mosque and this was the signal that fasting for the day was over. At this time of year we usually heard the boom around 5:30. From 5:00 to 7:00 you would not see a local on the street as everyone was home with their family having dinner.

We also noticed that as the month of Ramadan wore on things got slower and slower and people seemed to become grumpy, especially in the afternoon. Some of this can be attributed to the fact that many Tunisians smoke and not being able to smoke during the day took its toll. We also found that it was strange to eat lunch in the cockpit of Dragonsinger as local Tunisians walked by and glanced at our lunch.

Market During Ramadan

The Tunisians themselves certainly are energetic during the morning when Ramadan is on. The market is as busy as we have since it before Ramadan. Outside the market a Souk (i.e., an open market) was set up selling everything from food to clothes to shoes. The end of Ramadan is celebrated with a special three-day festival called Eid ul-Fitr. We have been invited to visit our friend Hamdi's house before the end of Ramadan to have the special deserts that are prepared for the festival marking the end of Ramadan.