Ramadan Pt. II

Oh yeah, one more thing I forgot to mention about Ramadan: during the entire holy month, all of the liquor stores are closed. As if it wasn’t tough enough already to get a drink in this town. Further complicating matters is the bar situation. While bars are still open, they actually have security working the doors to check passports.

Why? No Muslims and no Egyptians are allowed to enter bars during Ramadan. Remember, people: Egypt is not a free country, it’s a police state where armed guards sit on every corner and tenants in the city’s myriad apartment blocks are under constant surveillance from the Bawwab (door man), who ensures that no members of the opposite sex can enter one’s apartment.

For example, I went to visit some female participants in the YPI program (which is sponsoring my time here with a generous, monthly stipend) who live in my neighborhood, and we had to leave the door open the entire time, just to let the Bawwab and the neighbors know there was no hanky panky going on.

Crazy.

Anyways, back to Ramadan.

As the streets empty out during Iftar (literally, “break fast”) I took the chance to head out and go jogging on the deserted streets of Cairo. It was surreal jogging alongside the Nile while everyone was inside breaking their day long fasts with milk, dates, foole, etc.

In other news, my Sinbad-esque roommate is officially a giant baby. Though I’ve been getting along with him, he keeps loosing things (like a set of keys which I had to find for him) and he leaves his socks on the kitchen counter. Gross. Still, I think his laziness is rubbing off on me as my case of mild lethargy has grown into a chronic condition. It's like playing tennis with a horrible player: sooner or later, they drag you down to their level.