This will be our second Ramadan in Doha and I hope that we will be better prepared this time than last year. We were hoping to spend part of it away this year but it has not worked out now that ictQATAR has changed the vacation rules for ex-patriates. We now have to take our annual leave in three blocks in line with Qatari employees as we are a Ministry and all government employees.
This means that we will be here for the whole of July and August, although we may be able to get away during the EID week. We usually get the whole week off.
Ramadan for government employees means that since the Muslims will be fasting, we will all be working shorter hours. My working hours will be 8am to 1 pm - five hours in total. This might sound like a great deal but try fitting eight hours work into five hours to achieve the same results - it's not easy.
Next issue is that there is no tea/coffee service and the cafe is not open and obviously we have to respect the no eating and drinking rules since most of our work colleagues are fasting. If we do want to indulge, then we must be very discreet about it. This I don't mind - we are of course in a Muslim country and should respect their customs.
Everything closes down during the day, shopping malls, tourist attractions etc and don't open up until the evening, after the fast is broken. There is a brief period during the day for some shops which open, but you cannot get a drink of any sort, even water. We did discover last year, that the British cafe stayed open and provided you used the side entrance, they kept the blinds down, you were able to get a meal there.
All the hotel restaurants and bars which sell alcohol are closed of course for the entire month of Ramadan, so drinking is restricted totally to at home. The plus is that the liquor allowance we have is tripled to enable those who cannot do without, to buy extra, to see them through the month. Last year, we badly miscalculated how much Guinness to buy for Colin and it ran out very early.
One of the nicer parts is the Iftar celebration which takes place each evening when the fast is broken. Many restaurants and hotels put on extremely fancy meals in highly decorated and themed locations. If you are lucky you get invitations to some of the special ones.
On the whole though, it's a very quiet time.
This means that we will be here for the whole of July and August, although we may be able to get away during the EID week. We usually get the whole week off.
Ramadan for government employees means that since the Muslims will be fasting, we will all be working shorter hours. My working hours will be 8am to 1 pm - five hours in total. This might sound like a great deal but try fitting eight hours work into five hours to achieve the same results - it's not easy.
Next issue is that there is no tea/coffee service and the cafe is not open and obviously we have to respect the no eating and drinking rules since most of our work colleagues are fasting. If we do want to indulge, then we must be very discreet about it. This I don't mind - we are of course in a Muslim country and should respect their customs.
Everything closes down during the day, shopping malls, tourist attractions etc and don't open up until the evening, after the fast is broken. There is a brief period during the day for some shops which open, but you cannot get a drink of any sort, even water. We did discover last year, that the British cafe stayed open and provided you used the side entrance, they kept the blinds down, you were able to get a meal there.
All the hotel restaurants and bars which sell alcohol are closed of course for the entire month of Ramadan, so drinking is restricted totally to at home. The plus is that the liquor allowance we have is tripled to enable those who cannot do without, to buy extra, to see them through the month. Last year, we badly miscalculated how much Guinness to buy for Colin and it ran out very early.
One of the nicer parts is the Iftar celebration which takes place each evening when the fast is broken. Many restaurants and hotels put on extremely fancy meals in highly decorated and themed locations. If you are lucky you get invitations to some of the special ones.
On the whole though, it's a very quiet time.
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