El Andalous - Ramadan

El Andalous Entrance With Fanous

El Andalous Market - Close-Up of Fanous

Well, we’re about a week into Ramadan now. The clocks have gone back one hour, which is good for those fasting (hence the change in time), but means that it gets dark an hour earlier on the beach, so I have to make sure that I don’t delay my afternoon. It’s quite surprising what a difference that one hour makes as evening seems to appear so quickly. Or maybe I’m just getting more disorganised and getting to the beach later. Or perhaps a bit of both!

At Ramadan, many establishments put up a fanous – a lantern – in front of their building. The ones I’ve pictured are in front of El Andalous and the El Andalous market at the bottom of the building. That’s Russian you can see in the background due to the number of Russian residents here in Hurghada.

Another custom during Ramadan is to provide for the poor. I’ve been told that Spinneys puts on free food in the evenings. Once night falls, eating and drinking can begin and I’ve heard that, despite the daylight fasting, many Egyptians actually put on weight at this time of year! I mentioned this to Esmat and he claimed that the hardest bit about Ramadan wasn't so much the fasting, but the psychological aspects that you should not speak ill of anyone and you should not have sex.

I started off Ramadan with an ethical dilemma. I usually eat my breakfast and lunch out on the balcony, but it seemed a bit cruel to sit there feasting myself to my heart’s content while watching the gardeners and pool hygienists working away with no recourse to food or water. Consequently, the first two days of Ramadan I decided I should sit inside to eat and drink. However, it’s quite depressing to stay in a relatively dark room when you know you could be relaxing in the shade looking at the sun, the garden, and the pools (and the sea in the distance if you look very hard).

Anyway, after two days, I gave up. So much for ethics! Actually, to be fair to myself, I noticed that the snack bar was still serving people at the pool (non-Muslims, obviously), so it seemed a bit daft for me not to eat or drink outside, as the workers were having to watch other people do precisely that anyway. Also, technically, I am sitting in my home and nobody should be watching what I’m doing in my home environment. Practically, though, it’s not possible and in any case I like the fact that everyone says hello to me as they walk past.

During Ramadan, in many areas shops will work for reduced hours; however, because Hurghada is a tourist location, most shops remain open as usual. However, government buildings, and that includes the post office, work one hour less each day during Ramadan.

Sahl Hasheesh has its own post office (this is quite a coup!). I’ve often wondered if Sahl Hasheesh will be able to continue to support a post office, as there aren’t so many people here. Anyway, I needed to post something and felt pleased with myself for supporting our local facility. First of all, I went on a Saturday, not realising it was closed on Saturdays (the weekend is Friday and Saturday, but most shops are open every day until late at night; however, this doesn't apply to government offices).

I walked over there again in the blistering heat the following morning and, to my surprise, there were about ten Egyptians queuing. I came back later, but there was still a huge line of people. I’m not sure if everyone gets paid through the post office; I can’t see any other reason for there being such a crowd. Eventually, I decided to wait inside, but was informed that I would have to return the next day as it closed at 1pm (instead of 2pm) due to Ramadan.

When I got there the following day, again, there were loads of Egyptians. Maybe they all celebrate Ramadan in the post office? For some reason I was served first. However, I’m pretty happy as I’m now more confident that the post office will be there to stay.

Otherwise, life goes on as usual during Ramadan, although Sisi seems to be using this period to introduce a lot of new austerity measures (petrol increase by 78%, so now 2.6 LE a litre; cigarette tax up 50%; alcohol tax up 200%; but Egypt needs the money).

So, that’s Ramadan so far.