So as it seems, this is going to be the week of blogging about Cairo. Anyway, here's another post.
This month seems to be the month of vacations at work. It makes sense as schools are out and the weather is excellent. Although, truth must be told, the weather in Cairo is pretty much always excellent. Interestingly enough most people seem to migrate to the north coast, Alexandria and the rest of the Mediterranean region. Probably because they are looking for some coolness instead of the heath, like most people from the Netherlands do.
I don't hear many of my colleagues talk about going to Sharm el Sheikh, Hurghada or Luxos. Way to hot. Actually the only colleagues I know that went down there were not Egyptian.
Another reason why it makes sense that people take a break around this time, is that August this year is Ramadan. And I don't think that Ramadan is the period you should associate with a lot of fun and leisure. Granted, when they told me that pretty much everything moves to a halt around 13:30 - 14:00 during this period I did consider to convert to Islam, but than I realized that there must be a reason. And the reason is that people just don't have the energy or stamina to continue after that time.
During Ramadan you're not allowed to eat, drink or take anything at all, so no smoking as well. And I got to say, a day without eating is not a problem, it happens every now and than that I don't take the time to make me some sandwiches and I'll have to do without. But no drinking is a totally different story. And I don't think it's actually healthy not to drink the whole day.
Now consider a whole population of a country where a pack of cigarettes costs pretty close to nothing is not allowed to eat, drink or smoke. I think it is obvious that many of them will get agitated and irritated because they don't get their nicotine fix. Let me put it this way, colleagues have warned me not to get into the streets around 2 PM since all smokers will be going home and are extremely on edge because they didn't smoke for the whole day. And they're facing a smoke-free period for another couple of hours. Egyptians behind the wheel are very aggressive by their very nature but without a smoke it's extreme, so I've been told.
I was looking forward to a month of working for only half a day, but since I'm not practicing Ramadan I won't be able to join the masses. And I think that's a good thing. For one, I like my life, so there's no need to die in the streets. And secondly I like my coffee during the day and the water and the Coke. In short, I like to get my caffeine fix on time, before I get all agitated and irritated and am prone to make my driver go for those 20 points walking down the streets.
By the way, Ramadan is all about living the way you're supposed to live your life according to scripture and teachings. It's a time during which you focus on being a good person and respect your fellow man. I would say that one should do that whole year around and in turn you get to eat and drink and smoke all year around. I think it's an excellent deal. You're a got person all year and you get to eat and drink all year, instead of being a good person for a month and not drink or eat for the duration of that month.
Granted, you're allowed to eat and drink between sunset and sunrise, but in summertime that's an awful short time. Then again, the sun sets around 8 PM and rises not that early. So I guess if anything, it's better to spend Ramadan in summer during your vacation in Sharm el-Sheikh than in Oslo. But like I said, Ramadan is not about fun and leisure. It's about refocusing on being a good person according to scripture and teachings.
Iwan
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