Ramadan starts tonight pending the crescent moon being visibly spotted anywhere in Saudi Arabia. Ramadan is the 9th month of the Hijri calendar. The Hijri calendar is lunar based and is 10 days shorter per year than the Gregorian calendar. The Muslim religious holidays and government documents are based on the Hijri calendar. This means I have to update my Saudi ID every 355 days which is slightly annoying to keep track of.
Ramadan lasts for an entire month. During the entire month Muslims fast, Meaning food and water is not allowed during daylight hours. Ramadan results in changes to the workplace. The workday is shortened from 9am to 3pm for Muslims. For non-Muslims, the workday remains the same. Food and water are not allowed in the office. There are “sin” rooms which are rooms with windows covered up for non muslims to eat and drink during the day.
Restaurants and places that sell food are closed during the day only opening at sundown. This is where the burger-athylon comes in which I have been invited to par take in. The Burger-athylon is an annual ex-pat lunch event that takes place the day before Ramadan starts to take advantage of the last day restaurants are open. This is the 9th year. The Burger-athylon consists of eating a burger at 3 restaurants, I Wish Burger, followed by Johnny Rockets, followed by 5 Guys. At 5 guys you must also get fries and a milk shake. Fries must be regular size or larger. Burgers must be regular size. No kid burgers and regular at 5 guys is a double patty. You can tell people have tried to cheat in the past to be a burger athlete.
I was unable to finish the fries at the end, but I’m happy with finishing 3 burgers during my first event.
Ramadan Mubarak
Matthew of Arabia 