عيد مبارك
Yeah, I know, a little bit late ;-)
Ramadhane was rather easy. Although far away from family and friends, and without its particular atmosphere, it was probably the easiest one since I left Algeria. I think it is essentially due to the time spent in transportations. In Paris, while the Ramadhane atmosphere is far more present than here, I used to spend almost 4 hours/day in transportation. Here, since I am only 15 minutes away by bus from the university, this comes down to half an hour/day. When the weather is fine, I can even go there by bike: 30 mn to get there (a hill to climb) but only 15 mn to return home (no need for pedalling)! There is also the fact that the time zone is set here differently. It's like having the London time zone in Paris. This means that Maghreb time is more reasonable: it spans from 4 pm in Winter to 9 pm in Summer (compare this to the 5 pm-10 pm span in Paris). I find it strange for a sunset to happen at 4 pm in Winter, but I found it even more strange for it to happen at 10 pm in Summer. It's funny to see how people adapt themselves to it, everything and every activity here seem to be programmed an hour earlier: working hours, meals, TV programs... Even though the length of day is almost equivalent (close latitudes).
Anyway, I'm glad the Eid is back. It is not easy to keep normal working hours while everybody around you are not fasting. Every year it is a challenge, and every year you are glad you succeeded. It's also nice to see that all (except one? ;-)) the Islamic countries agreed on the date (and with the scientific prediction). The beginning of Ramadhane was more hectic and as usual incoherent. Indeed, it is astronomically impossible for the crescent to be seen in the eastern parts of the Arab World, while it is unseen in Morocco. But in that case specifically, the scientific prediction was a little hard.
Is it necessary to fast 6 days in Shawwal after a whole Ramadhane abroad ? ;-) I suppose the answer is yes, but...
Ramadhane was rather easy. Although far away from family and friends, and without its particular atmosphere, it was probably the easiest one since I left Algeria. I think it is essentially due to the time spent in transportations. In Paris, while the Ramadhane atmosphere is far more present than here, I used to spend almost 4 hours/day in transportation. Here, since I am only 15 minutes away by bus from the university, this comes down to half an hour/day. When the weather is fine, I can even go there by bike: 30 mn to get there (a hill to climb) but only 15 mn to return home (no need for pedalling)! There is also the fact that the time zone is set here differently. It's like having the London time zone in Paris. This means that Maghreb time is more reasonable: it spans from 4 pm in Winter to 9 pm in Summer (compare this to the 5 pm-10 pm span in Paris). I find it strange for a sunset to happen at 4 pm in Winter, but I found it even more strange for it to happen at 10 pm in Summer. It's funny to see how people adapt themselves to it, everything and every activity here seem to be programmed an hour earlier: working hours, meals, TV programs... Even though the length of day is almost equivalent (close latitudes).
Anyway, I'm glad the Eid is back. It is not easy to keep normal working hours while everybody around you are not fasting. Every year it is a challenge, and every year you are glad you succeeded. It's also nice to see that all (except one? ;-)) the Islamic countries agreed on the date (and with the scientific prediction). The beginning of Ramadhane was more hectic and as usual incoherent. Indeed, it is astronomically impossible for the crescent to be seen in the eastern parts of the Arab World, while it is unseen in Morocco. But in that case specifically, the scientific prediction was a little hard.
Is it necessary to fast 6 days in Shawwal after a whole Ramadhane abroad ? ;-) I suppose the answer is yes, but...
posted by Youcef @ 15:43
0 comments
