Mike and Debbie's Updates

Hello everyone! Ramadan is just about over. It had just about been a month now that the Muslims have been fasting. They eat nothing during the daylight hours. Nothing. No gum no water, nothing. They have a meal before daylight that is considered the last meal before fasting for the day. This meal is called the Sohour meal. The first meal of the night is called Iftar. This meal comes right after they have what I would call a snack right after sunset it is to break the fast. After that they prepare a huge meal or they go to one of the Ramadan tents that are everywhere in town and eat the Iftar meal. They eat and visit at these tents till around 2:00 or 3:00am. Then they go to bed for a few hours and start all over. They also go into work a little later than normal and get off work anywhere from noon till 2:00pm. That is their work day. They have a nap and then get ready for the evening ordeals. This first picture is of some of the people I have met since attending the SLB Spouses Association (SSA). Starting on the left is Bridget from France, don't know the next person, Maria (don't remember where she is from), Gosha from Poland and me.
This next picture shows a few more people I have met. The first 3 are people that weren't in the last picture. They are Tracy from Texas or Lafayette. I am not sure because her husband is from one and she is from the other. The next person is Donna and she is from California, next is Michelene and I am not sure where she is from. I just met her for the first time that night. This is just a small amount of the people who attended in our group that night. The third picture is of the inside of the tent. They can really fix up a tent. It was air-conditioned too. Now this really is a real tent. It is just huge. They decorated it so nice. At the far right of the picture where the man is standing is the soup table, the next one after that is the salad table. Food goes down each side of the tables and it isn't all the same food on both sides. The next small table you can see is in a picture is the table where they make a flat bread with cheese and herbs in it. After that is the door you enter through. The door is half way down the tent and half way through the tables of food. After that is the shwarma (not sure how to spell it) table. They cook huge spirals of meat on a skewer. The heat that comes off of it is something else. Then there is a meat and veggie table and then a dessert table. It is really beautifully arranged and most of the stuff I tasted was pretty good.
This next picture has is the veggie table. It was the only one I took an up close picture of. They display things so nicely. The next picture is of Penny, my neighbor, at the table they make the flat bread and put it on that dome looking cooker and then spread cheese with herbs in it on top. When it is ready they fold it in half and put it on your plate. The dome shaped cooker is to the far left of the picture. The next one is Tracy at the same table and you can see them cooking the bread on the dome looking cooker to the left. The dough for the flat bread starts in front of Tracy and the other lady. This next picture is of a performer. They play music and this guy actually had a religious outfit on and he spins around very fast in a circle. This lasts nonstop for about 20 minutes. He spins very fast and only slows down to change out the things he holds. He starts out with small drums and he arranges them in a lot of different ways, then he uses one of his skirts and makes it look like he is holding a baby in a blanket and a lot of other things. One is he takes one of the skirts he is wearing and twirls it above his head while spinning and he throws it and everything. It is totally amazing how he does it. He just keeps spinning and never wanders out of his little circle that he is spinning in. When it is over he picks up all of the things he had used in his performance and just walks off. I would have been on the floor within about 15 seconds. He goes into a trance like state while he is spinning is what one Egyptian lady told me.
This next picture is Penny and Bridget smoking the sheesha (sp). Penny ordered a fruit flavored tobacco for she and Bridget to share. It was Bridget's first time to smoke the sheesha and she wasn't too sure she cared for it. She said it was ok. She is too funny. I think you can tell by her face as to whether she liked it or not. LOL!
The next picture is of the length of the tent. We took this picture from our seats at the end we were on. We were at the edge of the tent and you can barely see the other end of the tent. You can see how they decorated the ceiling of the tent with material and see all of the tables set up from one side to the other.
Those are the most of the pictures from the evening. We had a great time. They wait on you hand and foot. If you are drinking water they bring you a bottle and they fill you glass. When they bring the sheesha out for you to smoke they put your tobacco in it where it goes and then they add the charcoal they use and fix it all up for you to use. They clear your dishes as soon as you are through with them. If they didn't ask you first sometimes they would take it away before you were through. Service here is actually really good no matter where you are eating unless it is a fast food place. They are quick with the meals but you don't get refills very fast. LOL!
I so wish Mike could have gone to this feast. I know he would have enjoyed trying all of the foods.
We went to the Iftar dinner a few days before, but we ended up not have a place to sit and then we never got any silverware or anything like that so we finally just left and went out to eat. The Iftar dinner was for everyone who worked for Slb and their families. There were so many people there it was crazy.

Sorry but I never have put so many pictures with an individual post, so one of the pictures is out of order. It is the first one. Other than that it is pretty much in order. Hope you enjoy the info. I will update again in a few days.

Debbie

# posted by Debbie and Mike @ 9:29 AM