It's been only a few months since I moved to Dubai, the city of dreams that embraces over 200 different nationalities in only 4,114 square kilometers. As much as I was fascinated by the exposure to different cultures, when Ramadan arrived, it really hit me that it would never be the same as in Egypt.
I was blessed to get the chance to fly to Cairo and spend the first week of Ramadan with family and friends, yet when I came back to Dubai and the second week of the holy month passed, it started to get a little depressing.
In my opinion, Ramadan during summer is a challenge. Ramadan during Dubai summer is mission impossible!
It starts at 3:30 a.m., when I wake up for suhour (the last meal before dawn).
In Egypt, I used to have the traditional fool (Egyptian beans), eggs and cheese along with drinking as much water as I can. But recently, I did some research on the best foods for suhour to prevent the thirst I am about to experience few hours later on my way to work. It turns out that yogurt and bananas are the ultimate solutions to keep me energized, focused, and most importantly less thirsty.
So here comes bananas and yogurt for the next 21 days!
I wake up again at 8:30 a.m. after 4 hours of interrupted – by bathroom visits – sleep, to get ready for another day at work. I try to be positive and keep my mind off how long the day can be. I usually succeed by digging into work and that's how most of my day passes.
After the little hot and humid adventure I go through on my way back home at around 4 p.m. (A 10 minute walk from the office to the metro station in Dubai summer while fasting can make me collapse on my bed for the next 3 hours in icy air conditioning and not even care about waking up to break my fast at sunset), I start preparing a typical Egyptian iftar. The meal includes traditional foods such as lentil soup, mahshi (stuffed grape leaves), Egyptian sambosak (fried dough stuffed with cheese or minced meat), Egyptian kunafa with cream for dessert and I must have the typical glass of Egyptian dust tea after the meal.
A food course I never actually cared to follow since I moved here, and that's how I realized I'm homesick in Ramadan.
Usually after iftar, I prefer going out for a walk and meeting with friends, but since the weather is not at all encouraging for walks and most of my friends are in Egypt, my attempts of performing outdoors activities after iftar have failed, except the time I went to Dubai Mall and bought a fanous (Egyptian lantern) to put it on my coffee table – also one of the homesickness moments I experienced.
Eventually, I settled with crawling into bed, reading a book, watching something funny online, or enjoying a little sketch or two until I fall asleep at around 11 p.m. FYI, I'm not a big fan of Ramadan TV shows, I believe they are a negative distraction and became too much for my taste. Don't you think?
That's pretty much how my Ramadan is rolling this year, one more week for the holy month to go and I still can't believe how fast it flies.
There is no place like home during Ramadan. Cairo, with mixed feelings I say, you are truly missed.
Ramadan Kareem and happy upcoming Eid!