Fasting Month

During the fasting month, everything about food changes. We don't eat or drink from sunrise to sunset. The mornings are quiet. Restaurants close their curtains. My office lets us go home early. Everyone moves a little slower in the afternoon.

The hardest hour is four o'clock. You're hungry, thirsty and tired, and the sunset is still two hours away. But this is also when the street markets open, selling sweet drinks and fried snacks for the evening. Walking past the smells is a small test every day.

Then the sun goes down, and we eat together — dates first, then water, then everything. Food tastes different after a day without it. Sweeter, warmer, more important. By the end of the month I'm tired, but I've noticed every meal for thirty days. Most of the year I don't notice any.