Post Comment Love. 29th April - 2nd May

Welcome back to #Pocolo with Stephanie from Lifeat139 and I where we host a weekly post where you can link up with any post, on any subject, you've written this week.

Hope you've all had a good Easter, Ramadan and a blessed Eid Al Fitr.

We were away in West Wales for 5 nights with the dog. Have you been to this part of the world? Did you go away for the Easter break.

I've been back in school for 4 days and have Monday off for the bank holiday, then just over 3 weeks till the half term holidays and we'll be off to explore the Yorkshire coast. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Want to find out more about Post Comment Love #PoCoLo? 

30th April - 3rd May 2021 - Post Comment Love.

Welcome back to #PoCoLo this week with Stephanie and I. It's not a bank holiday out here in Dubai, we do however have Eid Al Fitr coming up soon.

Time sure is racing by at the moment as my husband and I spend our last few weeks in Dubai and living abroad since January 2011. 

It's been a wonderful, and difficult time for us both, dealing with our last child leaving home, reduced contact with our oldest child who lives in a care home, we're now on our 3rd international relocation, having dealt with the death of my father and then the several joyous situations with 2 of our children getting married, the birth of a grandchild and several more family weddings and the birth of great nephews and nieces with a couple more babies lined up to meet later this year.

We're making the most of the medical aid getting eyes, dental and medical check ups and I'm also taking advantage of the nail bars and hairdressers here while I can and of course some last minute shopping.

It's not all fun and games though as you'll see with the post I've linked up with this week.

But life still has to go on throughout everything, as it has in its limited way since Covid. Just as it starts to return to normal, Peter and I change our normal with our return to the UK. 

Stephanie and I are looking forward to reading what you've linked up with this week.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

My Sunday Photo - Week 126. R is for Ramadan

Yes it's that time of year again.

As a non Muslim, Ramadan is an important time of year for me while I live in Dubai.

There are rules to follow for those not fasting and it is against the law to disobey.

So as from yesterday for the next 4 weeks, I will not be able to do any of the following in public during daylight hours.

• Eat
• Smoke
• Drink

Yes that includes water, chewing gum, taking medication.

It's not a problem for me, it's slightly frustrating, as I often go to light a cigarette or swig water from my bag.

But I can carry on as normal otherwise:

• Food shop
• Beach
• Cinema
• Visit a mall

The fact it is summer plays a big part on restrictions on my life anyway, the only other change to my daily life is I won't be able to go out for coffee during the day, unless I

a) get a take away for home or drink it in a toilet cubicle

b) visit one of the 120+ restaurants that are open during the day

c) visit a large mall and use the food courts that open to non Muslims from 12pm

There are many sales and special offers to be had during Ramadan, Iftars (breaking of fast) to attend and life in general is much slower at this time of year with reduced working hours for all.

Don't be put off visiting Dubai during Ramadan, you can read more about it here. Although I'd think twice about spending summer here and that's why I'm going to the UK just before Ramadan ends, it's not all Fun in the Sun.

Fast is traditionally broken by eating dates and drinking milk.

Visiting Dubai during Ramadan

Ramadan will be here this week around the the 26th May until the 24th June. Dates vary around the world and are dependant on the sighting of the moon. As the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar it's date comes 11 days earlier each year. Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic calendar.

During ramadan, Muslims do not eat, drink, smoke or have sex during sunrise to sunset. It is called fasting and is one of the 5 pillars of Islam, along with the declaration of faith, prayer, charity and Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Fasting varies around the world between 10 and 21 hours each day.

The fasting is broken daily with Iftar, traditionally with dates and milk.

At the end of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate Eid al-Fitr - festival of breaking the fast.

So what does this mean for Non Muslims, those who live here or visit during Ramadan?

• Life is much slower and quieter, with reduced working hours and restrictions on working outdoors. It is also a cheaper time to visit the UAE with discounted hotel rates, especially when Ramadan falls in the summer, to encourage tourists to visit at this time of year. Many Non Muslims will actually leave Dubai during the summer as the heat can become unbearable.
  

• All the malls are open during Ramadan, but you will find it difficult to get a taxi between 2pm and sunset as working hours are reduced, people are heading home to be with their families before breaking their fast. Restaurants will be very busy around sunset with people queuing for an hour or so for a table, so it's best to wait till around 8pm to eat out in the evenings.

• Eating, drinking, chewing gum and smoking in public is forbidden during Ramadan. That includes in your car. But you can do all the above in the privacy of your own home and if you are a guest in a hotel, you will be able to eat and drink in the restaurants. Until last year, alcohol was banned from sale until 7pm, after Iftar, but now you can purchase it in hotel bars during the day.

• There are many restaurants also open during the day, but check ahead. The majority of coffee shops are open, but only available for take outs, as a result queuing times to use public toilets will be longer as many non muslims will drink their coffee in a toilet cubicle.
  
  
  

• The food halls in the malls will open from 12pm to serve food as usual, but they are screened off from public view, you can enter before 12pm but you will not be allowed to purchase or consume food before that time, including take aways.
  

• Music is banned from public places, but that doesn't stop you from taking part in ladies nights and other events, although time tables and availability are limited from place to place, check with your hotel.

• It is expected that you dress appropriately during Ramadan and many places will deny you access if you have bare shoulders or clothing above the knees. Carry a pashmina when you go out to avoid unwelcome looks.

Fasting during day light hours really does mean 'not even a sip of water' if you are ill, pregnant or elderly, you are exempt from fasting as are children. So if your child requires feeding, a drink, carry on as normal. All the supermarkets are open during the day to purchase food and drink from, you just can't consume it in public unless you fall into one of the categories mentioned above.

People in Dubai are very helpful and polite, so if you are unsure, just ask at your hotel and with security when you go out.

I will be in Dubai most of Ramadan this year, I won't be going out much due to the heat, but at least this year I have a car and I'm not working.

The terms Ramadan Mubarak or Ramadan Kareem mean generosity, giving and blessings. you will find the malls and shops highly decorated during this period and Eid is usually marked with fireworks and other celebrations.

Living and Working in Dubai during Ramadan

Living in a Muslim country during Ramadan has been difficult, last year I spent 3 of the 4 weeks in Canada, this year I was working.

Now before ANYONE starts on me I'm just reporting on how I find things teaching in an Arabic school and living in Dubai during Ramadan.

I've been posting photo's and updates on social media sights and quite a few comments follow a similar line of:

'How come you have to live by their rules in Dubai, but they don't have to live by our rules when they come to the UK?'

I can live in Dubai how I like and choose. I can go to church, can work, buy and drink alcohol, drive a car, wear a swim suit on the beach, heck if I really wanted to I could wear a bikini. I could choose which school and style of education I want my children to have. I can have my own bank account, buy property.

I can celebrate Christmas, Birthdays, Easter, Valentines, Mothers and Fathers Day, Halloween and any other religious festival of my choosing. The Malls are decorated at Christmas time, playing jingle bells and the stores are well stocked. The only thing you won't hear are religious songs, but if you want to buy a statue of Buddah you have a wide chose of options.

In fact I can do anything here that I could also choose to do back in the UK.

Right that's all the background and the disclaimers covered, now here's what I actually wanted to blog about.

I've had a headache for over 3 weeks now due to working in the heat and with restricted access to fluids during the working day and commute home, in temps of 40c.

I am forbidden to eat or drink or even smoke during daylight hours in public in Dubai. Fasting starts at 5.30am and Iftar, breaking fast is around 7.10pm. I can of course do what I want within my own home as long as I can't be seen by any of my neighbours, but outside the home during these hours, it's a no, no. Actually it's illegal, but you will be given a warning first and not just arrested and frogged marched off to jail.

My normal week day in Duabi starts at 5am when the alarm goes off, giving me an hour to walk the dog, make my lunch, see to any washing, pack my bags, shower, dress and go to work at 6.15am. I teach at an Arabic School and the hours are 7am - 3.30pm Sunday till Thursday.

I eat my morning snack with the children in class and have a bottle of water on my desk to drink from during the day and at 1.30pm when the children go home I sit in my car on the far side of the car park and have a cigarette.

I often stop on my home to do a bit of shopping for the evening meal, maybe grab a coffee. When I get home I let the dog out for a pee, feed him and the cat and stay indoors until after sunset around 7pm, before walking the dog, bringing the washing in, watering the garden.

On the weekends we head to the beach or the lakes with the Dog, we are usually home by 8am again due to the heat, but we'll take a picnic breakfast with us or stop at a dog friendly cafe on the way home for a drink, as long as there is shade and we're not there too long. The routine of walking and outdoor chores stays the same and we have a lie in on one of the days. We pretty much stay in otherwise on weekends, other than a food shop or maybe a walk round a mall, but it gets a bit boring and we do eat out a lot on the weekends.

Temperatures are now around 40c during the day and dropping to 30c at night, Dubai is a city for being indoors during the summer months.

During Ramadan, despite working reduced hours from 8am - 2pm, my routine pretty much stay the same, except I eat my snack at 12pm in one of the non fasting rooms and if I want a drink during lessons I stand in one of the toilet cubicles in class and keep my water bottle on the window ledge, which as you can imagine by 10am if now warm.

I find the clothing restrictive for my job, I must cover myself from wrist to neck to ankle, which means a dress with jacket or trousers and a cardi.

I don't have any full length mirrors at home. 

I was gifted an abaya by a family from Jordan, it was lovely and cool to wear and meant I could wear minimum clothing underneath but it was a tripping hazard and I didn't have any pockets.

I still get up at the same time and whilst I can eat, drink and smoke in the privacy of my own home, I do have to ensure I can't be over looked by any of my neighbours.

Leaving work at 2pm the car temps are 45c+ so I make sure I have a drink before I leave for the car park and I go straight home because I won't find anywhere to get a drink if I stop on the way.

Weekends and early evenings have been difficult for us, the malls have screens covering the food courts with signs reading 'For Non Muslims Only' Prior to that you can buy food and drinks from outlets and the supermarket but you can't consume anything in the food halls until 12pm. So we either a) don't go out till 12pm or b) stand in a toilet cubicle and have a drink.

We pretty much stopped going out during daylight hours other than to work, in these temperatures, it is difficult to go too long without access to water, we're not prepared for fasting, our concentration levels drop. because it's summer less time is spent outdoors anyway, but cabin fever kicks in, Time Out compile lists of places to go and things to do during Ramadan and include a list of restaurants that are open during the day.

I don't like Dubai in summer, full stop. I enjoy Ramadan though other than the restrictions on food and drink. I have more of an idea now what it's like to fast and in this climate, it's not comfortable. My workload increased over the past 4 weeks and I was grateful when the temps topped 40c as supervising outdoor play whilst not being able to drink was hard work. But it's almost over for another year and I'm looking forward too observing Eid in South Africa this week. 

Week 29 - Project 365

This week hasn't started well. It's always the same after time with family and/or friends, whether I visit them, like I did in canada for the last 3 weeks or if they come here.

I hit a low, I'm back to being on my own in the day and find it hard to motivate myself. So on Sunday, after dressing and doing my hair and make up, hubby dropped me at the local mall, with my laptop and some money for a coffee, so at least I'd be out the house and not feel so lonely while he went to work.

Starbucks are only doing takeouts for Ramadan, so while I nipped in the supermarket, hubby purchased a coffee for me (it's against the law to drink in public during daylight hours in Ramadan) he didn't have one as his would've been cold by the time he got to his office and he dropped me back off at home.

I'm was doubly sad today on Monday as hubby went to the UK for a week, returning after Ramadan which ends on the 17th and a) we've had only 7 nights together since the 24th of May and b) I will pretty much be housebound and therefore on my own all week, as I can't cope with this heat and go without water when out and about.

So recognising that being on my own, is a trigger point for my depression, I've wrote myself a time table for the week, which I had every intention of sticking to until:

Monday after dropping hubby at the airport and found Costa was open, although screened off, I drove to Mushrif Park, where they have outdoor pools and shaded areas. However opening hours have been changed from 8am - 11pm to 11am-11pm, this was not on the website, neither were the opening hours of the nearby Mall where I thought I could shop for a few hours before returning for a swim. I arrived home at 11am and went to bed. I spent the evening rearranging bedrooms for my 16yo son's visit in 2 weeks so he can get the internet without running a cable round the house and decided that apart from a walk to the post box, maybe an evening swim in the sea, I'll pretty much just accept I'm stuck at home all week.

I also planned my week around the photo prompts and on Tuesday I had planned to take the bus to the souk and visit the beach for a swim. I ended up at the garden centre early evening, I didn't make it to the beach and a bought and assembled a book case for my photos.

Wednesday I intended to do some sewing but instead went to Dubai Mall and visited Bobbi Brown for a make over demonstration. I left caked in make up and looking 10 years older with yellow skin under my eyes instead of black bags that I went in with. I never made it to the beach.

Thursday was spent cleaning the house and as if it wasn't hot enough I decided to have an oven cooked dinner. I finally managed to get to the beach for sunset, walked Bob and chatted with the neighbours.

Friday was Eid al Fitr, the end of Ramadan. I spent the morning out in the desert with Bob and friends at the lakes and put the plants in the garden, then after a sleep in the afternoon I caught the bus and train to the beach front near Dubai Marina for a fantastic firework display and enjoyed dinner for 1 at The Real Madrid Cafe.

Saturday I was up early, watered the garden and was back from the beach after a swim by 7.30am, by 10am I'd done the food shopping and by midday the ironing was done.


Day 193 #onedailypositive #early #fmsphotoaday #JIsFor #snaphappybritmums #project365 #50DaysofSummer 

Up EARLY to get some gardening done JUST because it's too hot during the day in Dubai.

Day 194 ‪#‎onedailypositive‬ ‪#‎calm‬ ‪#‎fmsphotoaday‬ ‪#‎blackandwhite‬‪#‎snaphappybritmums‬ ‪#‎project365‬ 

Today's photo of calm was going to be the outdoor pools at Mushrif. I dropped hubby at the airport at 5.30am found a coffee shop that was open and headed off to Mushrif for 8am. But no, due to ‪#‎Ramadan‬ it doesn't open till 11am, so I drove to several malls but they're all opening later during Ramadan, but it doesn't say that on the Internet and each place has different opening hours, there's NO consistency. I am currently anything but Calm right now. Although the mall I'm currently is is empty, quiet and calm, so I guess this picture will have to do.

Day 195 #onedailypositive #chaos #fmsphotoaday#pattern #snaphappybritmums #project365 #50DaysofSummer 

It's #Ramadan and therefore it's illegal to eat/drink/smoke in public during daylight hours in #Dubai. So as the roads get chaotic at the time of breaking fast and at 45c during the day, my pattern is to walk to my local coffee shop to escape from my daily cabin fever.

Day 196 #onedailypositive #OnMyMind #fmsphotoaday#door #snaphappybritmums #project365 #50DaysofSummer 

The ceiling in the house is only as high as the actual door, so why bother with glass panels in the arch? In fact why is there an arch at all? The void above the door contains the air con units. It's on my mind as to whether the door and arch came before the aircon was installed or if it's just for decoration? #NeedToGetOutMore

Day 197 #onedailypositive #StartsWithT #fmsphotoaday #BrightFlowers #snaphappybritmums #project365 #50DaysofSummer

I've never been any good at colouring in or even like it, but to fit the prompts for today (can't find a single tulip anywhere) I've opted for a Bright Flower Tessellation.

Day 198 #onedailypositive #special #fmsphotoaday #fun #snaphappybritmums #project365 #50DaysOfSummer

Today is the first day of Eid and to celebrate I went to The Beach at JBR in Dubai to watch the spectacular fireworks.

Day 199 #onedailypositive #book #fmsphotoaday #bbq #snaphappybritmums #project365 #50DaysofSummer

Having a tidy round this week, I came across this cook book, hubby was given by his colleagues on leaving South Africa. 'There's nice dear' Today I opened it and it is full of their hand written favourite recipes. This is a braai recipe, the word South Africans use for what most of you know as a BBQ.

Goodbye Ramadan, Hello Eid

I may have only been back in the UAE for a week, but what an experience to share part of Ramadan in a Muslim Country.

The sun has set now for the end of Ramadan. And tomorrow starts a 3 day holiday for Eid.

I must admit I've found the last week a struggle. I can go without eating during the day when I go out, but I've really struggled with not being able to drink even water in public during daylight hours in this heat. 

I soon realized that the larger malls had their food halls open and covered off from those who were fasting. But I decided to spend the days at home venturing out around sunset to a coffee shop, just to escape the house as hubby has been away all week I've felt a bit isolated and lonely. 

To mark Eid tomorrow I'm off to The Beach at Jumeriah Residence Beach for the fire work displays. I'm hoping that as I'm on my own I won't have any problems finding somewhere to eat and hopefully get to chat to a few more people to fully understand what Eid is.