Breaking the Fast

Each year, there is a month of fasting here that ends with a big feast.  During the month of fasting, our friends don’t eat, drink or smoke during the day.  When they hear the call to prayer at sunset, it is time to break the fast.  They do this with a sweet date and maybe a liquidy yogurt called shenina.  They drink date juice and fried empanada-like sweets filled with cheese, cream or ground nuts.  They have a big dinner and then are up and eating for much of the night until around 3:45am when the morning call to prayer sounds and it is time to fast again.  During the Summer, it makes the most sense to sleep much of the day, so you might see a shop owner snoozing while his store is open for 2 hours or so.  The real fun is at night.  At the end of the month, there are a couple days of celebration and feasting.  Children get bright new clothes and toy guns and neighbors and families visit and share sweets.  We are invited into this world by generous neighbors and enjoy sharing their traditions a bit.