Ramadan Date Night
It’s the first night of Ramadan, and it is also Thursday, which is date night for Adventure Man and me. We hustle around all week, involved in our lives, grabbing ten minutes here and a phone call there, sitting down to dinner and that’s about it. But Thursday nights, we have the sweet luxury of time together. We go out to dinner somewhere, and we talk on the way there, we talk all through dinner and we talk on the way home. We both love date night.
Date night on the first night of Ramadan is REALLY special. Here is why:
“What’s so special?” you are asking in puzzlement. “That’s just an empty parking lot.?”
“EXACTLY!” I exclaim, triumphantly. “At seven in the evening, there are PARKING SPACES!” In a mall built for thousands of people that has only forty parking spaces! And we get Rock Star Parking!”
And unlike countries where they start putting up Christmas decorations in October, the Ramadan decorations began going up seriously yesterday, the beginning of Ramadan. They are still finishing up tonight.
I love the crescent moon and stars twirling down from these –
And look at these GORGEOUS lanterns!
There is no one around to object to my photo-taking. All the Westerners are eating or shopping while the mall population is so light.
Traffic is so light that we even stop for gas on the way to dinner, and drive right up to a pump with no wait at all. All the good Muslims are at home, or with friends, breaking the fast together, celebrating their triumph over the first day of fasting.
If you lived in Kuwait, you would know what a triumph it is. The weather is cooling, but still very hot – around 111°F/44°C every day this week. It is dry, and on some days there are sandstorms. Even when you are not fasting, you yearn for a cold drink of water.
The women often cook all day. They do the shopping. Many are around food most of the hours of their fast, so that they might provide a feast for their family when the sun sets, and they resist the temptation, just smile and say “It’s a test.” There is a custom that they can taste the food, to make sure it is OK, but they cannot swallow, or the fast is broken.
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Now you let the secret out. Next Thursday date night you may not find a parking place 😛
Nice shots 🙂
Thanks, Lady J, but one night was all I needed – wanted some photos of Ramadan lights. You can have my space – t’fadli!
Thanks, 3baid. I love the decorations!
Nice post, I LOVE AL KOUT!
its always light crowd wise if you choose to go at the right time. 😉
I love Al Kout, too. It’s so different from all the other malls, it has a serenity about it. I also love that the meat and vegetable and seafood market are also right there, and the Sultan center and it is all together.
Blue, have you heard anything more about VillaModa going into the Al Manshar Mall? The sign is still there, but no sign of any progress.
I really miss Ramadan there! I miss the lights, empty roads, good food…. Everything girl!!! 😦
Well . yeah i’ve seen the sign maybe 3 months ago, it still didnt open?! wow. interesting.
i dont really shop there…. so i dont keep myself up do date ;p
Noracassandra, I can understand, it is a truly holy time. I love it, too. I have a feeling one day you will be here again.
Blue Dress – I’ve asked Confashions, if anyone would know, she would. Even my own mother thinks I am a fashion disaster (“You’re wearing THAT???”) so really, I am asking for my friends who love shopping at Villa Moda.
lol, I wish I could be out shopping when it was more “quiet”! I really can’t understand the logic/lack thereof of builders here in Kuwait and their non-existant parking issues (or our parking issues, as it happens). I think the Avenues is the only mall that has actually got decent amounts of parking!
And yup, I’m one of the ones in the kitchen for a lot of the day..but interestingly enough, I’m not cooking just for our own family. It’s all of the other families all around me that I send trays to (and they send them to us too – we have our own personal restaurants, I swear…the variety of foods is masha Allaah, amazing at futoor!)
Ramadhaan isn’t supposed to be about gorging oneself on special foods – that’s hardly the focus – and yet because families and friends are gathering together, it is a time to test one’s culinary skillz, so to speak, since one is feeding guests. It’s not out of hand here in our house, but just to keep up with the family’s demands and passing dinner/sweets along to neighbors and friends, I find I’m never out of the kitchen for long!
And I love Ramadhaan here in Kuwait – the mood is such a happy one, and I’ve really noticed a difference while driving, it’s safer..people are letting other people merge without issues (or that was my experience anyways) and I actually saw people using their signal lights! WOW! And the decorations here, I LOVE that…and I always love being in Fahaheel, because near where I shop they play qur’an on the loudspeakers…it’s so calming and masha Allaah, during Ramadhaan what a blessing to all to hear it.