Once a week, I get together with a group of FAO spouses who are generally headed to the same region of the world I am - we're a mix of South Asia and Middle East. It's comforting, I think, to spend time with people who are also about to turn their entire lives upside-down. Once a month, we get together and host a pot luck lunch and skype with spouses who are currently in one of the countries we are headed to. I think this is a benefit to all of us - the people on this end get a first hand look at the lifestyle and the people on the other end get to reconnect (however briefly) with us.
Today's session was with a former member of our group who is currently in Rabat, Morocco. In her discussion of their most recent travel adventure, I was reminded of a ... we'll call it an experience I had when I was in high school. As you're probably aware (or maybe not), it's currently Ramadan. While that doesn't have that big of an impact on my life right now, next year this time, when I am one of the 5% of the population in my country who is not Muslim, it will likely have a slightly larger impact. Our friend related to us today that they planned to do some traveling during Ramadan and ended up having to order quite a bit of room service at the local hotels because the restaurants were closed until after sunset. I suppose if I had to fast all day, I wouldn't want to cook for people who didn't have to fast either. And so back to my "memory." As part of my high school wind ensemble, I traveled to France and Switzerland over Spring Break (Easter). Being Catholic, but apparently not a very good one, I lost track of the days and was surprised when we wandered into a restaurant that would not serve us any food. The waiter - looking confused - said, "It's Good Friday; we fast." So when I heard my friend's story about the restaurants that were closed, I had to chuckle a bit remembering it.
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