Ramadan Kareem

It is first of August and Ramadan starts today here in the UAE. All the shopping malls are decorated you can buy all kinds of dates and it’s almost feels like Christmas. I am very excited to experience this holyday though I’m not in plan giving up food or drink during the day!

So Ramadan is the ninth month of the year according to the Islam calendar, which is Lunar based. It is time of forgiveness, blessings, mercy, devotion, heritage, sacrifice and charity. It is like our Christmas days just much longer. People are already nicer here compared to Europe and yesterday I could see myself that they are even more polite now. During the day people are not allowed to eat or drink except women who have their period, pregnant , ill, sick, too old or young, or traveling more than 50 miles. Also if you can't keep your fasting you need to make it good with donations or other forms of charity. They say it is a good experience to feel the pain of less fortunate people for whom hunger is an everyday problem. It makes them appreciate their wealth. A month fasting supposed to be healthy but it is very questionable.

So how does it look like in every day practice? They pray a lot even in the supermarket they play the Koran. They are not allowed to eat or drink from sunrise till sunset. The fast breaker in the evening called iftar is the dinner, but even before this they need to go to pray. They must start this with eating uneven number of dates and drink water, thee, coffee or milk. After comes the delicious home cooking and baking. They receive and visit family and friends during the month. So it is very festive every day. Before the Sun comes up they can have sahoor which is the breakfast.
For non-Muslims there are many possibilities to eat but the restaurant windows are covered so you cannot see inside. Dos and don'ts in this period:

- Dress correct. Cover your shoulders and knees and give a break to your tank tops.

- Don’t dress or sing in public and keep the volume down during the day.

- Don’t swear.

- Don’t smoke, chew gum eat or drink in public between sunrise and sunset.

- Do greet friends with Ramadan Kareem! - Happy Ramadan! or Ramadan Mubarak! - Ramadan Blessings!

-Do give presents to friends , family and to the less fourtunet one. Help those in need with donations.

That’s all! I don’t think that this is difficult.

What are the good things in Ramadan? The prices are down, there are sales everywhere. You get special offers on almost everything. There are iftar and sahoor buffets and tents in every hotel and you can learn all about Arabian food and tradition. What a pity that I am not a shopaholic!

Finally!

I was planning to start this blog over a year ago but things turned out differently than they should have been.
Anyway this blog supposed to have many purposes one of them is to improve my written English which is really necessary as you will see. On the other hand I like to write or let’s say picturing the fact that I’m writing something else than a shopping list (which I forget home every time). Also I would like to share stuff, all kind of crazy or boring things which happens in my or let’s say in our life.
First I’d like to introduce myself a little. I am Hungarian which means I speak too much and probably write too much comparing to other nations. I left Hungary like 10 years ago went to Belgium, but now I live in Abu Dhabi (which is a great place). I am married without children, had a dog but had to leave him back in Europe. I like traveling, fine dining and art. I don’t have the need to party anymore, so if you up to Jersey Shore you are on the wrong address.
I could talk about so many things that it’s rather difficult to choose so I just start it and then I’ll see.
Probably many of you have heard about Dubai and less of you know anything about Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, it isn’t a big city and still it has many things to offer. As you know in the UAE people do not pay taxes. They say rents are high, but it is a capital and I think even in Eastern Europe capitals you wouldn’t pay much less. There are only a few things you can visit here as a tourist:

Emirates Palace is one of the best hotels in the World. This is a place to be If you visiting. We stayed here on or first visit. It is a dream comes true. You do not really want to leave just hang out. We still go once a week to have a coffee, cake, dinner or something.

They also have one of the best spas in town.

The other pearl of the city is the Grand Mosque. It is a great modern time made classical building. (of course you need money to build things like that but still)

Where the fun begins; Yas Island where you can visit Ferrari World and Yas Marina Circuit.

Ferrari World

Yas Hotel and Yas Marina Circuit

There are concerts on the island and next to the Formula 1 there are lot of other races during the year. The big race is always the same time as the UAE’s foundation anniversary this year it is the 40th so it will be a big show.

That's all for now about Abu Dhabi, it is truly a fascinating place so to be continued.....