General Update on Life at School

As of today we are now in the fourth day of Ramadan. While I'd prefer to learn more about Ramadan and Islam in my Arab Civilizations class I've picked up a few facts that I didn't know before. I guess I'll just start with the fasting part. As the daylight hours come to an end, the school community, including both those fasting and those not, begin to think about dinner, or as we are calling it, "Iftar". Iftar is the evening meal for which Muslims traditionally break their fast. I'm pretty sure that "Iftar" is a meal and not a time, unlike the word English word, "dinner" which is used as both. Now Iftars, from what I've seen in the dining hall, are no different from normal dinners, except of course that we have some traditional desserts offered such as dried figs and apricots, dates, and honey, pistachio pastries. After dinner (or the "Iftar") fasting students can pick up their "Sahoor", or breakfast meal. Because fasting students cannot eat during daylight hours they wake up with the 4:30 am call to prayer to enjoy their meal. Incidentally, while the 4:30 woke me during my first few nights, I am now sleeping though them soundly. This partly explains why nobody in my hall needed a wake up call Wednesday morning and why I found some students showering at 6:30. These students had simply woken up two hours before and decided not to go all the way back to sleep.
This is what I've observed of Ramadan at school. The other day, however, when I was in Amman walking through a normally bustling outdoor shopping strip I was shocked to see the entire place deserted. I thought this was odd at first because it was about already 6:00 pm. Then I remembered of course that it was Ramadan and that of course the shops, cafees, and restaurants wouldn't be open. But that didn't make complete sense to me because just up the street I found furniture shops, drug stores, and this incredible bakery full of people. The bakery was especially busy such that I had trouble finding a place to stand and inspect the piles and piles of freshly baked breads and pastries. So, from it looks like, I guess that fasting Muslims have the choice to open their shops and that, even though fasting Muslims might not be able to eat, smoke, or drink during daylight ours, they can at least shop for their provisions.
This brings me to the bits of gossip that I've heard about Ramadan. Supposedly, during the month of Ramadan the Muslims in Jordan who normally sell alcohol in their shops (Jordan doesn't have any laws against alcohol and there are plenty of people of here who choose to drink) simply refuse to serve it. How I actually learned this was that, when I was out with some of the other gap year students at a café, our waiter wouldn't serve a bottle of wine. Then one of us among the group told us that many of the Muslims in Jordan, who normally drink during the year, give alcohol up completely during Ramadan, during the day and night. I guess this means that the Quran does in fact forbid the consumption of alcohol and that there are many Muslims who use observe this.
But the most interesting bits of gossip about Ramadan that I've heard came from a student presentation from morning meaning. This student said that the gates of heaven are open and the gate of hell are closed during Ramadan. He also said that Muslims fast during Ramadan because this is when the prophet first received his revelations. Then he said that Muslims can cleanse themselves of their sins by fasting and that good deeds done during Ramadan are somehow worth more in heavenly rewards.
I've written a lot already so I think I'll end this post by mentioning that, the other day during school meeting, Dr. Eric told us that the king had asked him to choose two boys to accompany him to Mecca for his trip (I don't know what kind of trip exactly). Dr. Eric than announced the names of the boys he had chosen to accompany the king. The students leave tonight and come back on Sunday. The king didn't ask for girls because women apparently aren't allowed into the inner courtyard surrounding the Ka'ba