Goomba wrote:

> I'd like to learn more about what special dishes they feast on?

The dishes served vary depending on exactly where you live. When I lived in
Kuwait and visited Kuwaiti friends, the patriarch of the family always made
a big production out of carrying out a large bowl of rice pilaf and dumping
it onto a communal platter right at the end of the sunset prayer call. There
would be some kind of meat stew, yogurt cheese with olive oil, olives,
dates, and tea. Vegetables (from Jordan) were served as side dishes, and
pastries were served after dinner. Snacks (shwarmas, meat pies, flatbread
with olive oil and dukkah, etc.) were eaten throughout the night.

A few notes about Arab etiquette: It's considered rude to show the soles of
your feet, so people sat tailor-fashion on pillows on the floor. Most eating
was done by hand -- always the RIGHT hand, because the left hand is
considered unclean. (This rule appears to waver a bit nowadays: When Tony
Bourdain visited Saudi Arabia, there was footage of him eating with a Saudi
family, and the people there used both hands for eating. But if in doubt,
it's best to only use the right hand.) Thin soups were sipped out of bowls;
thick soups were either sopped up with the rice or eaten with spoons. (There
*were* utensils, it's just that they didn't see much use.)


> What the rules are for those who can't fast, etc.

People who can't fast for medical reasons are exempt from fasting. The
markets sell what amount to silver-dollar pita rounds so that they can
minimize the negative aspect of breaking the fast.

Observing the fast is considered *important*, so exemptions are not granted
all that readily. In Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the fast becomes LAW during
Ramadan, and offenders can be prosecuted for the criminal offense of
illegally breaking the fast, unless they have an exemption. (One of my
coworkers was stopped and ticketed for smoking in his car during daylight
hours.) It's likely that the Ramadan-fast legal requirement exists in other
Muslim countries too, but I don't know that first-hand.

Ramadan is also the month where women are especially observant about wearing
the burqa, even in countries which are much more liberal at other times of
the year.

Bob