No snowman for you

[IQS.RLOW]

Sorry, I'll just google it next time

Just like your parents should have done

[AiA in Atlanta]

some years back a friend of mine was somewhere in the ME and went drinking at a place designated for foreigners to do so. he took a taxi back to his hotel. the cabbie smelled the booze and took him to the police station instead where he spent the night in jail. if aussie were an Arab cabbie I could see him pulling a stunt like that.

[Super Nova]

There are some specific restrictions around Ramadan. You cannot eat, smoke or drink in public until about 7:30 PM everyday. All restaurants are shut during the day. That was tough when I was just living in a hotel 6 months ago. Luckily you can get room service. It was so hot you didn't want to go outside. Now I have my own home, next time it will be easier.

So you were exempt from Ramadan in the hotel?

Well, it's only for Muslims isn't it? They don't force it on everyone, surely?

Good question boxy.

It is the law that no-one... that includes non-Muslims are to be consuming anything during the fasting hours of the day. The grey area is in public. They provide an exception for hotels only and those hotels either have areas curtained off so no-one can see into the area were food can be purchased and consumed or you have it in the privacy of your room. if you have a house, what you do there is OK too. All hotel kitchens are staffed by 3rd country ex-pats so they can work with food and drink during the day.

If you get caught walking down the street with a fag in your mouth or drinking a can of coke, you can be arrested and fined.

So it is law and applies to all. They do not impose fasting on everyone. They impose no visibility of those that consume things during fasting out of respect for those that are, is my understanding. Ex-pats here are OK with it. We just work around it.

This year, I took bottles of water with me went I went to the malls and had to go into the loo, lock myself in a cubical and scull a bottle of water. Not ideal but man it was so hot I needed to.

Children and pregnant women are exempt from this rule. I think warriors at war are also exempt

[Super Nova]

Are other food outlets (other than restaurants) shut too?

All restaurants are shut. Everywhere. Only notable exception are those curtained off in some hotels.

Supermarkets ...etc are open to purchase food. No-one is offering samples.

Pork products are in a special hidden area that you wouldn't know was there.

[Neferti]

There is even a site for when Ramadan begins in Australia. Please do not eat HAMburgers during this religious time.

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/aus ... dan-begins

[Black Orchid]

Isn't the time for Ramadan universal?

[Super Nova]

Isn't the time for Ramadan universal?

Yes and no.

It start by the sighting of the moon. A local iman (sp) needs to do this. So they can start and end a little differently I believe.

The expected dates are universal according to the Islamic calendar. Their year I think is only 360 days long so it moves a few days every year.

[Super Nova]

There is even a site for when Ramadan begins in Australia. Please do not eat HAMburgers during this religious time.

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/aus ... dan-begins

You can eat Hamburgers because they are beef provided the cow is kills by being alive during the bleeding of it throat being cut and it is facing the right way. Oh... and you eat it before and sunrise and after sunset.

[Neferti]

There is even a site for when Ramadan begins in Australia. Please do not eat HAMburgers during this religious time.

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/aus ... dan-begins

You can eat Hamburgers because they are beef provided the cow is kills by being alive during the bleeding of it throat being cut and it is facing the right way. Oh... and you eat it before and sunrise and after sunset.

I know. I was being facetious! I worked with a guy from Bangladesh (his father was a Diplomat here in Canberra) way back and he was a Muslim ... wandered off several times during working hours to go to "pray". Anyway, the other guys in the Section teased him about HAMburgers, and eventually he would have a burger for lunch after we explained they were made from beef, not ham and he would also have a beer! He wanted to be a Dinky Di Aussie. He was quite happy to discuss Islam and the rules and regulations, etc. so he told us all about how they killed their animals and so forth. A nice guy, actually.

[Super Nova]

HAM..... I love ham.