Ramadan
Still in San Diego at Doug's conference. Last night Zaneb, one of his Iranian students, invited us and some others from the graduate program to a local Persian restaurant. She is a devout Muslim, so we waited until after dark due to it being the month of Ramadan, during which Muslims cannot eat during the day. When we arrived there were several groups of men smoking and playing backgammon on cafe tables outside on beautiful wooden boards. I love backgammon.
The owner ushered us to an inside table at once, telling us that he was expecting a crowd as the sun set. As the patrons crowded in, I noticed that the women in our group were the only ones in the place.
We ordered various kabobs that came with huge portions of basmati rice, naan and yogurt dip, roasted tomatoes, and a pepper that turned out to be wickedly hot. Zaneb brought us cups of strong black tea and showed us how to hold a sugar cube on our tongue to sweeten the tea as we drank it.
Not only were the portions more than generous, the waiters kept bringing us free things: a banana, melon juice, rice mixed with something green and heavily sugared, a lovely custard topped with ground pistachios. The common thread was sugar. Apparently this is customary during Ramadan, giving you energy to get you through the next day's fast.
Zaneb is a lovely young woman, very intelligent, very sweet and welcoming. She wears the headscarf tied under her chin and a long coat. It was clear that she was enjoying sharing her traditions with her advisor and friends and we were honored by her generosity. At one point she demonstrated how one food was eaten, then apologized to Doug for instructing her instructor. (Doug encounters this a lot with his foreign students)
During the meal she spoke of the difficulty of finding Halal meat, and how much she misses her husband and 5 year old son while she is in the program (You live on campus for a year of very intense study for the GIS Masters degree). Doug told me later that she is lonely, in part because of the complex restrictions that govern her life. She must eat halal, avoid contact with male students as much as possible, cannot go out socializing with the other students because there's usually alcohol involved. She and some of the other Muslim women students were interested in swimming lessons so they could use the pool at the complex where the students live, nicknamed 'The Gulag'. Doug and his wonderful office administrator, Debbie, arranged for special women-only hours for them, had a visual barrier erected to protect their privacy, and found a swim teacher. But swimming during Ramadan is not allowed, so lessons are suspended until next month.
Being a good Muslim is clearly not easy in the US, and I admire her devotion. It was a little sad, though, at the end of the great evening that the women could all hug good bye, but Doug could not even shake Zaneb's hand to thank her.
The owner ushered us to an inside table at once, telling us that he was expecting a crowd as the sun set. As the patrons crowded in, I noticed that the women in our group were the only ones in the place.
We ordered various kabobs that came with huge portions of basmati rice, naan and yogurt dip, roasted tomatoes, and a pepper that turned out to be wickedly hot. Zaneb brought us cups of strong black tea and showed us how to hold a sugar cube on our tongue to sweeten the tea as we drank it.
Not only were the portions more than generous, the waiters kept bringing us free things: a banana, melon juice, rice mixed with something green and heavily sugared, a lovely custard topped with ground pistachios. The common thread was sugar. Apparently this is customary during Ramadan, giving you energy to get you through the next day's fast.
Zaneb is a lovely young woman, very intelligent, very sweet and welcoming. She wears the headscarf tied under her chin and a long coat. It was clear that she was enjoying sharing her traditions with her advisor and friends and we were honored by her generosity. At one point she demonstrated how one food was eaten, then apologized to Doug for instructing her instructor. (Doug encounters this a lot with his foreign students)
During the meal she spoke of the difficulty of finding Halal meat, and how much she misses her husband and 5 year old son while she is in the program (You live on campus for a year of very intense study for the GIS Masters degree). Doug told me later that she is lonely, in part because of the complex restrictions that govern her life. She must eat halal, avoid contact with male students as much as possible, cannot go out socializing with the other students because there's usually alcohol involved. She and some of the other Muslim women students were interested in swimming lessons so they could use the pool at the complex where the students live, nicknamed 'The Gulag'. Doug and his wonderful office administrator, Debbie, arranged for special women-only hours for them, had a visual barrier erected to protect their privacy, and found a swim teacher. But swimming during Ramadan is not allowed, so lessons are suspended until next month.
Being a good Muslim is clearly not easy in the US, and I admire her devotion. It was a little sad, though, at the end of the great evening that the women could all hug good bye, but Doug could not even shake Zaneb's hand to thank her.