Travel Tips

In order to feel the strains of difference, Americans only need to go to Morocco. The most disorienting thing about aspects of Moroccan life is that often many elements appear identical to aspects of American life. Look, a mall. Look, a Hummer. Look, girls wearing tight jeans. The disorientation kicks in when a veiled woman from head to toe is picking out the lingerie at the mall. The man in the Hummer patiently waits as a cripple and his donkey pass in front of his car. The girls wearing tight jeans are holding hands with girls in veils and jellabas.

One thing all these above mentioned characters are on the same page with is fasting during Ramadan.
I will go against the grain and say this to tourists who want to eat in public - Do it. Ramadan finds it's power in reflection, contrasts of hunger and plenty, available sex and sublimation...your absolute inability to respect their culture gives the sura which ends 'la koom deena koom walla ydeen' a chance to be felt first-hand.

You provide a public service and inadvertently remind us as Muslims what our collective beauty can be...

I dig that the meal served to this guy is in fact what many Muslims and our respectful loved ones (even if they sneak in something somewhere) will be breaking their fast with tonight...

What's the difference? With a divorce rate you can safely bet on, America doesn't know. All of our rules are vestiges of things political, religious, etc... but most of them aren't felt. Ash Wednesday is sober up or sleep day for we exiled New Orleanians.
Here's a hint - self-control is when you still feel empowered by your choices, even when it involves passing up something some part of you desires.
Repression is when you are disempowered by someone or something.

Nations, cultures, and peoples have had about 1500 years to throw Ramadan off - if it was dangerous, disempowering, repressive and the like it would have went the way of slavery.

I like this picture because it shows the opposite of what you hear about conservative Fes. This guy was peacefully chowing down at a cafe. Now where are the spitting people? I watched jellabaed men with chin-strap beards passing by - not a wink, they simply don't give a sh*t and actually expect YOU (the non-muslim tourist) to eat.

In fact, while I (still not adjusted) marveled at the insensitivity of the photoed tourists, a moroccan girl asked why I was looking puzzled. "I've seen that my whole life. We don't care (lit. Let them take care of their own heads...)"