Hellllllloooooooo family & friends,
So I hope you have forgiven me for the “too graphical” blog that I sent out last time with ‘The Train Incident’ in Delhi! The final result of the trip to India was that I lost 7lbs in 48 hours and Erin lost 6lbs. Not a healthy way to lose weight but it does confirm the rumours that people use a short break to India as an annual diet routine.
So we were back in Dubai, the summer weather had started to leave us, meaning that the 50 degrees heat was now becoming a constant 30 degrees and the humidity has decreased from 100% down to a normal feeling. This has meant that October and November have been fantastic for us both, with many activities, trips and events now taking place in the cooler temperatures (hence the lack of blog as we have just been so busy) – So this will probably be a first of a few blogs.
Our first weekend back from India was very busy, I was playing golf at the Montgomerie course. It was a fabulous course with some outrageous holes with a lot of water. ‘Team Manchester’ were playing ‘Team Celts’. The match finished tied after a pressure putt from me made par on the very tricky 18th hole! I’m really looking forward to giving my Dad a good game on there! Because I knew I was playing golf all day with the boys, I had surprised Erin for her Birthday (few days early) and treated her to a few treatments at a local spa in a nearby hotel. She was very relaxed and enjoyed it an awful lot. I think it now means that golf for me is now very expensive as I will now be sending Erin off to a spa as well! Hehe!
For Erin’s actual birthday, we finished work and went to the new Sega Zone at Dubai Mall. Its an indoor theme park with a few rides and roller coasters. Quite a different experience but we had lots of fun and then followed by a lovely meal at CPK (California Pizza Kitchen)! On the Thursday evening, we headed down to the Dubai Marina and to the Yacht Club for happy hour with a few friends. We made full use of the 2 for 1 offer and ended up drinking very tropical cocktails in Mai Tai with Alan Curbishly. Overall, a great Birthday week for Mrs Foden.
Whilst we have been in Dubai, a lot of the people we have spoken to have talked about Camping trips in the winter and how much they have previously enjoyed them, we wanted to get in on this and due to the fact that Erin had bought a 6 man tent off an expat leaving for a ridiculously cheap price, we planned a trip up to Oman with a few friends. We had lots of preparation to do before we left, shopping for camping equipment, packing and most importantly, testing the tent that we had bought to make sure that there were no problems with it. This doesn’t seem too much of a problem for most people, however, in our apartment since we don’t have a garden, this led to a very entertaining (but successful) 30 minutes of us putting up this massive six man tent in our not so big bedroom! Hilarious !
We left for Oman straight after work on Thursday night with the cars all packed with food, booze and firewood. It was a pleasant 3 hour drive from Dubai, including a stress free border crossing, then arriving at the beach, set up the campfire, bbq and tents and cracked on! A few beers, bottles of wine, a lot of tequila later, some comical ‘toileting’ and a small teabag incident, it was time to crash in our luxury tent for the night with airbed, pillows, duvet, etc (Erin was well prepared).
We were awake early on Friday morning, threw all the sausages on the bbq, packed up and left for a boat trip. As there was a group of 12 of us, we had hired a huge wooden traditional fishing boat called a Dhow with a driver for 6 hours, where we basically sailed around the Arabian gulf, Dolphin watching, fishing, snorkeling with some beautiful fish, a few cheeky beers and a lot of sunbathing / sleeping. It was a fantastic trip and very relaxing for everyone.
For the second night in Oman, we had planned on a trip up the Mussundam mountain range and set up camp there. This involved an hours drive up the rocky, dusty and very steep winding 'roads.' We were in a convoy of four big 4x4’s. The other 3 had been off-roading before, we however were ‘4x4 virgins’. As the roads got steeper and narrower, I changed the setting on the Range Rover to Mountain Mode and off we went. Erin was getting very quiet and a little nervous, I could tell this by the white knuckles that she was holding onto me with! I on the otherhand was having the time of my life. There was a real adrenaline rush as we were kicking up dust and stones as we powered up the tracks, carefully climbing over huge some rocks, listening to 'The Beast' use all its mechanical power to get us to the top.
The scenery was amazing with sheer vertical drops on one side and fascinating rock formations on the other. We just missed the sun setting from the top of the mountain, but headed back to a nice flat area (there wasn’t many) and once again set up camp and had a great night, pretty much like the night before but with an added ingredient of glow sticks, which seemed to keep everyone far too amused for hours!
The weather is now perfect in Dubai and over the first few months after Christmas we will defo be doing some more camping trips.
That’s enough for now, further blogs to follow shortly. Hope to hear from you guys soon.
Much Love
Mark & Erin
xxx
See some pics from my golfing day, Erin's Birthday, & our camping trip here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=325949&id=508925482&l=8d2d63805e
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=326498&id=508925482&l=b18e5848f8
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=327554&id=508925482&l=e157ac9bb6
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Monday, 24 May 2010
Friday, 6 November 2009
India Blog - Delhi Belly Edition
Day 2 in India started even earlier than Day 1. We were up, dressed and out of the hotel by 5.15am to catch the train from Delhi to Agra for a full day’s site seeing with the highlight being the wonderful Taj Mahal.
We arrived at the very busy train station, no problem and boarded the train, it was actually a very civilized train journey as we had joked about whether or not we would be sitting on the roof for the 2 hour journey!
It was also quite an eye-opening journey down to Agra. We passed by many of the slums, similar to those we had seen on Slumdog Millionaire. It was very sad to see that people actually do live in these conditions, on top of rubbish dumps, with no clean water, nothing more than a cardboard box as a house and then the toilets…….well, they were just non existent – people taking Number 1s and 2s in the streets or just next to their cardboard box! Very sad.
When we arrived in Agra, we were met at the station by hundreds of taxi and rickshaw drivers all fighting for our business. They even had police with wooden battens to keep the drivers back until we had passed a certain area. We had planned to hire a rickshaw driver for the day, but a taxi driver ended up winning our business by hassling very well and dropping his prices for us. He offered us air conditioning and he actually spoke pretty good English.
He suggested we head to the Taj 1st as it was perfect time of day, before the heat and before the crowds! We took his advice and off we went. Once we got there and saw it, it was amazing, as it’s something you have seen in photos, movies or in books, but to see it in person was fantastic and beautiful! We took lots of photos (including the standard one of “picking up the Taj”). Then we took a tour around the tomb inside the center of the Taj (which took 21 years to build), it was a very peaceful place and after the tour we actually just laid on the marble flooring and chilled for about an hour!
After the Taj we visited Agra Fort, a few shops (where the driver was on commission – quite annoying)! We then visited the baby Taj (another tomb, which the original Taj was based on), and then back to watch the sunset over the Taj whilst enjoying a beer or two.
At 7pm we headed back to the train station. We were exhausted from a full day of sight seeing, and the stomach was starting to feel a little dodgy, (now for the messy bit)! I hope you’re not eating!
About 30 minutes into the journey I was sweating and had Goosebumps all over and needed to go to the bathroom. HOWEVER, those who haven’t been to India before will not fully appreciate the meaning of ‘Indian bathroom’ (especially on a train)! To put in bluntly……..A Hole in the Floor, where you are supposed to squat and hover whilst pooping. Bearing in mind this was a bumpy moving train, you can imagine that not everyone was quite so accurate and there was poop all over the place (not even to mention the smell)!! Well, anything that I had eaten the last 2 days just bounced and I was instantly sick.
Feeling surprisingly better, I headed back to the seats. Another 30 minutes had passed and ‘that feeling’ arrived again. However, this time I had to go (nr 2). So I braced myself knowing it wasn’t going to be pretty, started to crouch down only to realize the door wouldn’t lock properly, so I’m squatting over this hole in the ground, balancing on one leg, whilst holding the door shut with my other leg – I wont go into too much more detail but wow, I was in a bad place right there and then!! (Sorry of this is Too Much Information)!!! I’m sure you can all picture the image!
After the horrifics of the train, we finally got back to the hotel. By then both of us were affected and we were taking it in turns to run to and from the hotel bathroom (where we had an actual toilet) for the rest of the night. Sunday was a complete right off, we only left the room, to go to an Irish bar, to watch the Manchester Derby (Awesome Match)! But we couldn’t even stomach water or plain fries!
On Monday we were unable to leave the room until we had to check out, and we went straight to the airport and managed to get an early flight back to Dubai!
We didn’t eat anything between Saturday night and Tuesday night, it was a very unpleasant illness and we have no idea what caused it as we were trying so hard to be careful with what we ate! We can 100% say we experienced the true meaning of Delhi Belly.
To sum up our short trip:
The poverty in India is on a massive scale, from the thousands of people homeless and the children begging in Delhi to the Slums on the outskirts of the cities. It made us realize how lucky we are but also how we take things like clean water and a roof over our head for granted! We had chosen India as we wanted to experience the different culture and see the sites, which we can definitely say we saw.
Despite the illness, it was a very enjoyable trip, amazing to see the Taj and tick it off the list.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2291001&id=6402232&l=ffbba30598
Would be great to hear from you all and let us know how you getting on.
Speak soon
Much Love
M & E
xxx
We arrived at the very busy train station, no problem and boarded the train, it was actually a very civilized train journey as we had joked about whether or not we would be sitting on the roof for the 2 hour journey!
It was also quite an eye-opening journey down to Agra. We passed by many of the slums, similar to those we had seen on Slumdog Millionaire. It was very sad to see that people actually do live in these conditions, on top of rubbish dumps, with no clean water, nothing more than a cardboard box as a house and then the toilets…….well, they were just non existent – people taking Number 1s and 2s in the streets or just next to their cardboard box! Very sad.
When we arrived in Agra, we were met at the station by hundreds of taxi and rickshaw drivers all fighting for our business. They even had police with wooden battens to keep the drivers back until we had passed a certain area. We had planned to hire a rickshaw driver for the day, but a taxi driver ended up winning our business by hassling very well and dropping his prices for us. He offered us air conditioning and he actually spoke pretty good English.
He suggested we head to the Taj 1st as it was perfect time of day, before the heat and before the crowds! We took his advice and off we went. Once we got there and saw it, it was amazing, as it’s something you have seen in photos, movies or in books, but to see it in person was fantastic and beautiful! We took lots of photos (including the standard one of “picking up the Taj”). Then we took a tour around the tomb inside the center of the Taj (which took 21 years to build), it was a very peaceful place and after the tour we actually just laid on the marble flooring and chilled for about an hour!
After the Taj we visited Agra Fort, a few shops (where the driver was on commission – quite annoying)! We then visited the baby Taj (another tomb, which the original Taj was based on), and then back to watch the sunset over the Taj whilst enjoying a beer or two.
At 7pm we headed back to the train station. We were exhausted from a full day of sight seeing, and the stomach was starting to feel a little dodgy, (now for the messy bit)! I hope you’re not eating!
About 30 minutes into the journey I was sweating and had Goosebumps all over and needed to go to the bathroom. HOWEVER, those who haven’t been to India before will not fully appreciate the meaning of ‘Indian bathroom’ (especially on a train)! To put in bluntly……..A Hole in the Floor, where you are supposed to squat and hover whilst pooping. Bearing in mind this was a bumpy moving train, you can imagine that not everyone was quite so accurate and there was poop all over the place (not even to mention the smell)!! Well, anything that I had eaten the last 2 days just bounced and I was instantly sick.
Feeling surprisingly better, I headed back to the seats. Another 30 minutes had passed and ‘that feeling’ arrived again. However, this time I had to go (nr 2). So I braced myself knowing it wasn’t going to be pretty, started to crouch down only to realize the door wouldn’t lock properly, so I’m squatting over this hole in the ground, balancing on one leg, whilst holding the door shut with my other leg – I wont go into too much more detail but wow, I was in a bad place right there and then!! (Sorry of this is Too Much Information)!!! I’m sure you can all picture the image!
After the horrifics of the train, we finally got back to the hotel. By then both of us were affected and we were taking it in turns to run to and from the hotel bathroom (where we had an actual toilet) for the rest of the night. Sunday was a complete right off, we only left the room, to go to an Irish bar, to watch the Manchester Derby (Awesome Match)! But we couldn’t even stomach water or plain fries!
On Monday we were unable to leave the room until we had to check out, and we went straight to the airport and managed to get an early flight back to Dubai!
We didn’t eat anything between Saturday night and Tuesday night, it was a very unpleasant illness and we have no idea what caused it as we were trying so hard to be careful with what we ate! We can 100% say we experienced the true meaning of Delhi Belly.
To sum up our short trip:
The poverty in India is on a massive scale, from the thousands of people homeless and the children begging in Delhi to the Slums on the outskirts of the cities. It made us realize how lucky we are but also how we take things like clean water and a roof over our head for granted! We had chosen India as we wanted to experience the different culture and see the sites, which we can definitely say we saw.
Despite the illness, it was a very enjoyable trip, amazing to see the Taj and tick it off the list.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2291001&id=6402232&l=ffbba30598
Would be great to hear from you all and let us know how you getting on.
Speak soon
Much Love
M & E
xxx
Sunday, 11 October 2009
India (Part 1)
Blog time again – it’s been rather busy and lots of stuff has been happening, however we will stick to the rule of less than 750 words…..
After the Birthday Iftar at the Beach next to the Burj, we were both back busy at work but still enjoying the earlier finishes from work, due to Ramadan. The weekends came and went very quickly, however we did manage to get to a fancy dress party at one of the lads flats. I was bad taste Hawaiian Beach Surfer Dude and Erin was a Manchester United Player complete with Shinpads! The party had full DJ and sound system, UV lights and strobe lights, a bath literally full of beer cans, far too many people and an endless supply of Jelly Vodka! Great & successful party, rather tipsy & work the next day was quite painful for me! (See some pics at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2290586&id=6402232&l=5f964a6c32)
Towards the middle of September, The Holy Month of Ramadan was drawing to a close and we had planned a long weekend away to India. When the Muslims celebrate the end of the Holy Month, we get 3 days off work!
Erin worked very hard for about 3 weeks, looking into every bit of detail about India, specifically Delhi & Agra – The Lonely Planet was a very helpful guide which explained about all the various scams that happen on a regular basis where the tourists are targeted! She had also spoke to Ashley, who had visited a few months earlier on her travels and her biggest piece of advice was ‘always carry some toilet paper with you.’ Erin, using all her research and advice had done the packing into two very small suitcases (very impressive for Erin to travel so lightly) and after an early dart from work we were back in the airport lounge bar (yep, you guessed it, Bloody Mary and a Pint of Magners)!
We arrived in Delhi after a nice stress free flight and were taken to our hotel.
1st Impression of Delhi was the insane Driving!!!! No actual lanes whatsoever in the road, some places it was a bumpy track/dirt road with 5 or 6 cars and rickshaws (see pic: http://www.nriinformation.com/images/autorickshaw.jpg) trying to get from 6 “lanes” onto roundabouts. Every single driver used their horns:
To let someone know they were passing,
To let other road users they behind them,
Used their horn instead of an indicator,
To test their horn was still working (after they used it less than a minute ago)
Just because they wanted to.
It was crazy and we experienced this the entire time we were in India. It now explains why some of the driving in Dubai is so bad, i.e. all the Indians previous driving 'experience' in their homeland!
We got an early night once we arrived at the hotel. The next morning we had a personal driver come and pick us up to take us around the sights of Delhi. During this busy day we visited many temples, war memorial monuments, tombs, mosques and forts all with amazing history and some of the most detailed construction that we have ever seen (you can see all in the link to our pics below) We enjoyed a fantastic Indian Curry with all the trimmings (including large Kingfisher Beers) at a traditional restaurant for lunch.
For me the most memorable part of the day was when we swapped the car for a bicycle rickshaw (see: http://www.tropicalisland.de/india/uttar_pradesh/varanasi/images/VNS%20Varanasi%20or%20Benares%20-%20women%20in%20cycle-rickshaw%203008x2000.jpg) and were chauffeured through the crazy traffic (at rush hour) to the largest Mosque in India.
With India being a very religious country and the Muslim and Hindu religions were celebrating annual festivals, it was a fascinating time to visit the mosque. We arrived just before prayer time for the Muslims and were covered up by some rather sexy outfits (again see pic link at bottom)! We walked around the plaza of the mosque, and we were the centre of attention of over 500 people. The attention was different to the vast number of scammers and beggars that we had battled through for the majority of the day. We were actually been idolized with small Indian children just following us and wanting to be by our side and asking for photos of us. It was an amazing experience that will never be forgotten and as I mentioned in the photograph (on facebook) it felt like we were Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, famous.
First set of India Pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2290984&id=6402232&l=f0bd86a8c7
Ok, so I managed to ramble on more than I thought just about day 1 and already over 700. Day two Blog will be following soon (and be prepared to hear about Dehli Belly)!!
Lots of Love
Mr & Mrs Foden
xxx
After the Birthday Iftar at the Beach next to the Burj, we were both back busy at work but still enjoying the earlier finishes from work, due to Ramadan. The weekends came and went very quickly, however we did manage to get to a fancy dress party at one of the lads flats. I was bad taste Hawaiian Beach Surfer Dude and Erin was a Manchester United Player complete with Shinpads! The party had full DJ and sound system, UV lights and strobe lights, a bath literally full of beer cans, far too many people and an endless supply of Jelly Vodka! Great & successful party, rather tipsy & work the next day was quite painful for me! (See some pics at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2290586&id=6402232&l=5f964a6c32)
Towards the middle of September, The Holy Month of Ramadan was drawing to a close and we had planned a long weekend away to India. When the Muslims celebrate the end of the Holy Month, we get 3 days off work!
Erin worked very hard for about 3 weeks, looking into every bit of detail about India, specifically Delhi & Agra – The Lonely Planet was a very helpful guide which explained about all the various scams that happen on a regular basis where the tourists are targeted! She had also spoke to Ashley, who had visited a few months earlier on her travels and her biggest piece of advice was ‘always carry some toilet paper with you.’ Erin, using all her research and advice had done the packing into two very small suitcases (very impressive for Erin to travel so lightly) and after an early dart from work we were back in the airport lounge bar (yep, you guessed it, Bloody Mary and a Pint of Magners)!
We arrived in Delhi after a nice stress free flight and were taken to our hotel.
1st Impression of Delhi was the insane Driving!!!! No actual lanes whatsoever in the road, some places it was a bumpy track/dirt road with 5 or 6 cars and rickshaws (see pic: http://www.nriinformation.com/images/autorickshaw.jpg) trying to get from 6 “lanes” onto roundabouts. Every single driver used their horns:
To let someone know they were passing,
To let other road users they behind them,
Used their horn instead of an indicator,
To test their horn was still working (after they used it less than a minute ago)
Just because they wanted to.
It was crazy and we experienced this the entire time we were in India. It now explains why some of the driving in Dubai is so bad, i.e. all the Indians previous driving 'experience' in their homeland!
We got an early night once we arrived at the hotel. The next morning we had a personal driver come and pick us up to take us around the sights of Delhi. During this busy day we visited many temples, war memorial monuments, tombs, mosques and forts all with amazing history and some of the most detailed construction that we have ever seen (you can see all in the link to our pics below) We enjoyed a fantastic Indian Curry with all the trimmings (including large Kingfisher Beers) at a traditional restaurant for lunch.
For me the most memorable part of the day was when we swapped the car for a bicycle rickshaw (see: http://www.tropicalisland.de/india/uttar_pradesh/varanasi/images/VNS%20Varanasi%20or%20Benares%20-%20women%20in%20cycle-rickshaw%203008x2000.jpg) and were chauffeured through the crazy traffic (at rush hour) to the largest Mosque in India.
With India being a very religious country and the Muslim and Hindu religions were celebrating annual festivals, it was a fascinating time to visit the mosque. We arrived just before prayer time for the Muslims and were covered up by some rather sexy outfits (again see pic link at bottom)! We walked around the plaza of the mosque, and we were the centre of attention of over 500 people. The attention was different to the vast number of scammers and beggars that we had battled through for the majority of the day. We were actually been idolized with small Indian children just following us and wanting to be by our side and asking for photos of us. It was an amazing experience that will never be forgotten and as I mentioned in the photograph (on facebook) it felt like we were Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, famous.
First set of India Pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2290984&id=6402232&l=f0bd86a8c7
Ok, so I managed to ramble on more than I thought just about day 1 and already over 700. Day two Blog will be following soon (and be prepared to hear about Dehli Belly)!!
Lots of Love
Mr & Mrs Foden
xxx
Our 1st Ramadan
Hello all,
So after reading some excellent advice from our favourite Blogger (Captain Andy Geoghegan), we are trying to reduce the length of our blogs (shorter, sharper and more often), to keep our followers interested. New rule: No more than 750 words!
_______________________
After the 3 week Amazing time in California - (AKA a 3 week food and drink binge holiday), it was quite ironic that the Muslim world (including Dubai) was about to start the Holy Month of Ramadan. Now before I even thought about moving to Dubai i didnt really know too much about this Religious Festivity, apart from the British Comedian Peter Kay's sketch, calling it Ramadan-a-ding-dong!!
So before it started we did a bit of research and heard some very interesting things, here are the basic things we found out:
· The Muslims fast during daylight hours. This starts after 1st prayer (about 4.30am) and ends at about 6.45pm.
· They break their fast at 6.45pm with what can only be classed as a feast. This is a celebration meal called Iftar.
· During fasting hours, they do not eat, smoke, or drink - not even water (which is quite harsh due to the fact its about 45C outside or 110F).
· The Non-muslim community are not expected to fast during Ramadan - However we are expected to respect the Holy Month. This means no eating, drinking, smoking or chewing gum in public places during daylight.
· Anyone found doing any of the above (even in the privacy of their own car) are frowned upon but could also actually end up paying a fine or ending up in prison!!
· Everyone finishes work earlier than normal (to allow the muslims to sleep whilst they fast). Woo Hoo - Erin finishes at 2pm for a whole month and i'm there till 4!
· When Ramadan finishes they celebrate with a 3 day holiday called Eid. Not sure what it represents but 3 days off is 3 days off and we have actually booked fights to go to India for a short cultural holiday.
· It is seen as a time where all communities come together, celebrate, share family times and generally respect one another.
I was reading an article in the paper about Fasting and this gives a good summary of why they do it:
"Fasting properly during Ramadan is a bit like doing a proper gym workout - you need to feel the discomfort before you achieve any real growth. Most of us go to the gym but do everything possible to avoid becoming uncomfortable. We will talk on the phone, chit chat with a friend or just look at ourselves in th mirror to help pass the time. It is the same with Ramadan and the spiritual muscles that need to feel the discomfort before you truly grow, so don't runaway from the pain by being moody and grumpy towards others, just because you are hungry."
Our experience of Ramadan so far has been enjoyable - We get the early finish and we visited an Iftar Feast on my Birthday on the beach, next to the Burj Al Arab (The 7 star 'sail' hotel) in a Marquee style tent with a capacity for 2000 people, that would easily pass as a five star restaurant setting. The food was great (a brunch style banquet - without the booze), the atmosphere was a celebration and the surroundings were gorgeous.
We plan on doing 2 more Iftar's before the end of the 'Holy Month' - One of these will be next week with Pepsi, next to the Burj Tower and looking over the Burj Lake and Fountains!
So there is a brief insight to why you see 1.5 billion muslims throughout the world fasting during the 9th month of the Islam Calendar. One final thing that interested me, was the fact that they don't know the exact date it will start or end - It all depends on whether or not they can see the moon!
Lots of love Mark & Erin
xxx
P.s - I'm only up to 655 words so i will add the link to our favourite bloggers website, to keep updated about Andy & Karen's trip around the world
http://www.gonefurther.com/
To follow our blog, please visit
http://erinmarkdubai.blogspot.com/
and click on follow.
Miss you all
xxx
(700 words)
So after reading some excellent advice from our favourite Blogger (Captain Andy Geoghegan), we are trying to reduce the length of our blogs (shorter, sharper and more often), to keep our followers interested. New rule: No more than 750 words!
_______________________
After the 3 week Amazing time in California - (AKA a 3 week food and drink binge holiday), it was quite ironic that the Muslim world (including Dubai) was about to start the Holy Month of Ramadan. Now before I even thought about moving to Dubai i didnt really know too much about this Religious Festivity, apart from the British Comedian Peter Kay's sketch, calling it Ramadan-a-ding-dong!!
So before it started we did a bit of research and heard some very interesting things, here are the basic things we found out:
· The Muslims fast during daylight hours. This starts after 1st prayer (about 4.30am) and ends at about 6.45pm.
· They break their fast at 6.45pm with what can only be classed as a feast. This is a celebration meal called Iftar.
· During fasting hours, they do not eat, smoke, or drink - not even water (which is quite harsh due to the fact its about 45C outside or 110F).
· The Non-muslim community are not expected to fast during Ramadan - However we are expected to respect the Holy Month. This means no eating, drinking, smoking or chewing gum in public places during daylight.
· Anyone found doing any of the above (even in the privacy of their own car) are frowned upon but could also actually end up paying a fine or ending up in prison!!
· Everyone finishes work earlier than normal (to allow the muslims to sleep whilst they fast). Woo Hoo - Erin finishes at 2pm for a whole month and i'm there till 4!
· When Ramadan finishes they celebrate with a 3 day holiday called Eid. Not sure what it represents but 3 days off is 3 days off and we have actually booked fights to go to India for a short cultural holiday.
· It is seen as a time where all communities come together, celebrate, share family times and generally respect one another.
I was reading an article in the paper about Fasting and this gives a good summary of why they do it:
"Fasting properly during Ramadan is a bit like doing a proper gym workout - you need to feel the discomfort before you achieve any real growth. Most of us go to the gym but do everything possible to avoid becoming uncomfortable. We will talk on the phone, chit chat with a friend or just look at ourselves in th mirror to help pass the time. It is the same with Ramadan and the spiritual muscles that need to feel the discomfort before you truly grow, so don't runaway from the pain by being moody and grumpy towards others, just because you are hungry."
Our experience of Ramadan so far has been enjoyable - We get the early finish and we visited an Iftar Feast on my Birthday on the beach, next to the Burj Al Arab (The 7 star 'sail' hotel) in a Marquee style tent with a capacity for 2000 people, that would easily pass as a five star restaurant setting. The food was great (a brunch style banquet - without the booze), the atmosphere was a celebration and the surroundings were gorgeous.
We plan on doing 2 more Iftar's before the end of the 'Holy Month' - One of these will be next week with Pepsi, next to the Burj Tower and looking over the Burj Lake and Fountains!
So there is a brief insight to why you see 1.5 billion muslims throughout the world fasting during the 9th month of the Islam Calendar. One final thing that interested me, was the fact that they don't know the exact date it will start or end - It all depends on whether or not they can see the moon!
Lots of love Mark & Erin
xxx
P.s - I'm only up to 655 words so i will add the link to our favourite bloggers website, to keep updated about Andy & Karen's trip around the world
http://www.gonefurther.com/
To follow our blog, please visit
http://erinmarkdubai.blogspot.com/
and click on follow.
Miss you all
xxx
(700 words)
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