We're Jason, Beth, Lee Anna, Sawyer, and Sarah Claire, a family of five living, learning, and laughing lots in Northern Africa.
We hope you can learn a little (and maybe laugh a little too) as you read about our latest adventures.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Lanterns, Lanterns Everywhere!

It's that time of year again... Ramadan is upon us!

For the next thirty days, our friends and neighbors will be fasting from sunup to sundown, then feasting every evening and very late into the night. These lanterns are a Ramadan fixture in our country, and several weeks before the fasting starts, little lantern shops pop up all over the city. You can get one as tall as you are, or as small as keychain size. They have singing lanterns, flashing light lanterns, and all kinds of other fun varieties.
We're also observing an extra time change this year thanks to the holiday. We're turning clocks back an hour tonight (earlier sunset=earlier breaking fast), then turning them forward again at the end of the thirty days, then turning them back again at the end of September! We're probably just going to be a little confused about what time it is for the next few months.
As the locals say, "Ramadan Kareem!"

1 comment:

  1. I am so excited you posted this! Just this morning I heard a story about this on NPR when I was driving. This is the url, if you're interested: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129105207 (but you probably already know all of it).

    Anyway, your entry made for a nice "local commentary" and added pictures for me! So thanks!

    -Jamie

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