Re: Ramadan to start on 11th August
 

Do you know - I have no idea. He has been to so many parts of the world now that I have stopped asking him and he has mostly stopped telling me what they're like because generally he only sees the inside of the airport, the factory and his hotel.

He's now sick and tired of people saying "Oh my God - you must have seen so much of the world."

Re: Ramadan to start on 11th August
 

How I know that feeling.

I've been to Jordan several times and on several occasions I haven't even left airside of the airport...!

Re: Ramadan to start on 11th August
 

It can't always be very nice or very easy to know that you are so close to so much beauty or history etc. and know that you won't get to see it..... and then feel like you have to explain why you didn't see such and such when people back at home ask you if you did.

Re: Ramadan to start on 11th August
 

I'm the same with Amsterdam. Have been to Schipol airport around 20 times but have never seen the town.

Let me get this right, by the way...do non-Muslims have to fast during Ramadan in Saudi Arabia?

Re: Ramadan to start on 11th August
 

I think as long as u live in a compound then u can do whatever u like, but i think if u were spotted in the street by the religion police there eating or drinking during the day then i think they might arrest u !!!

Re: Ramadan to start on 11th August
 

As far as I know my OH is not expected to fast himself - but there will be nothing for him to eat or drink whilst he is working and if he does sneak a little bottle of water it will have to be very sneaky.
I know he finds it very, very hard to work in extreme heat and not be able to slug a little water during the day.

Re: Ramadan to start on 11th August
 

You're not told to fast as a non-muslim, but you're expected to show respect to those that are fasting by not openly drinking/eating in front of them. Makes sense really...

Re: Ramadan to start on 11th August
 

Mifht make sense to those following it - but it doesn't make it easy for anybody not following.

Re: Ramadan to start on 11th August
 

Gesundheit

Re: Ramadan to start on 11th August
 

I know how that works having lived in Dubai and Qatar. I was just wondering if there would be an issue with supply of food, specifically for someone working on a site compound in the middle of the Saudi desert.

Re: Ramadan to start on 11th August
 

:lol:

Re: Ramadan to start on 11th August
 

I've (involuntarily) fasted for multiple continuous days - record is 5 consecutive - as a result of various stomach infections gained whilst travelling. I still drank water mind. My personal experience was that not eating is by no means particularly difficult. Not eating during daylight hours does not strike me as the feat of endurance that some people seem to feel. At least for me, the endurance aspect would be introduced by the lack of water. The impact of the daily Ramadan fast must depend strongly on each individual's metabolism and I guess the cumulative effect over multiple weeks does make it somewhat unique too.

Re: Ramadan to start on 11th August
 

But not eating because of a stomach bug is different surely? When you're ill and sick and feeling lousy you don't want to eat and presumably you're in bed or lying around and not using any energy.

Not eating when you're still expected to work is another matter altogether.

Re: Ramadan to start on 11th August
 

Actually the disparity in discipline required and hardship endured between, say, office workers and labourers makes a complete mockery of it. Sitting in a nice, air-conditioned office, "working" short hours is just not the same thing as physical work in the heat.

I seem to remember from last year that so many here just turned their lives upside down by sleeping all day and partying all night that in fact there was no hardship at all. On the other hand I have a great deal of respect for some of my colleagues who do the thing properly; although I can't but think that its got twisted down the years, because not drinking in a hot climate is plain daft.

Re: Ramadan to start on 11th August
 

Well its official, 1st day of Ramadam is tomorrow. Why they had to send people out into the desert to check is beyond me - a quick search on google would have told them when the new moon was.