Thursday, September 24, 2009

first day after Eid

Yesterday was an extremely important day as it was the first day after the three days of Eid al-Fitr. What this means is that yesterday was the first day for all the new staff which arrived in Hawler in September to witness life as it is when the city is not busy observing Ramadan. The restaurants were open and the sheets covering the windows of restaurants serving food during fasting hours of Ramadan were conspicuously absent. No more boards in front of the signs advertising the sale of alcohol in windows in Ankawa.

In addition, the roads were filled with traffic, the shops were open - cars overflowing parking areas and arranged willy-nilly all along the roadsides. Women were out... and while the majority of Muslim Hawleri women wear hijab during Ramadan, the percentage of those in hijab dropped drastically the day Ramadan ended... and yesterday they were all out on the street and in the shops.

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