Saturday, September 30, 2006
About Ramadan
Ramadan is a very special month for Muslims all over the world. Muslims should fast from sunrise to sunset and in the UAE that means from about 4:30am to 6:00pm. In some countries it may be longer than that depending on the geographical location. Here it is quite difficult to fast because it is a very hot country. Fortunately, the working day is shorter. However, as a teacher this means that I must teach the same amount of items in half the usual time - and when my students are tired, this is a challenge! Another problem is that we need to be careful about the topics of the lessons in Ramadan, so we can't talk about food, entertainment, music and so on. I always try to think of a way to use the grammar or the topic of the chapter we are studying in a Ramadan situation. So, for example, this week with one class the topic was 'food', so the students told me about Ramadan food specialities, and with another class we practicised 'need to' and the students told me what Muslims need to do in Ramadan.
In Ramadan I always forget that offices close at lunchtime and it also seems strange to go to the Post Office at 10pm! I like going to the supermarkets at Iftar because the shops are empty and I can finish my shopping very quickly. I also like eating Iftar as the food is delicious and many restaurants offer wonderful Iftar buffets for very reasonable prices. One big problem in Ramadan is the traffic and, when the drivers are tired, they make crazy mistakes when they drive!
Now all my colleagues are making plans for the Eid holiday - I wonder how many days we will get!
Ramadan is a very special month for Muslims all over the world. Muslims should fast from sunrise to sunset and in the UAE that means from about 4:30am to 6:00pm. In some countries it may be longer than that depending on the geographical location. Here it is quite difficult to fast because it is a very hot country. Fortunately, the working day is shorter. However, as a teacher this means that I must teach the same amount of items in half the usual time - and when my students are tired, this is a challenge! Another problem is that we need to be careful about the topics of the lessons in Ramadan, so we can't talk about food, entertainment, music and so on. I always try to think of a way to use the grammar or the topic of the chapter we are studying in a Ramadan situation. So, for example, this week with one class the topic was 'food', so the students told me about Ramadan food specialities, and with another class we practicised 'need to' and the students told me what Muslims need to do in Ramadan.
In Ramadan I always forget that offices close at lunchtime and it also seems strange to go to the Post Office at 10pm! I like going to the supermarkets at Iftar because the shops are empty and I can finish my shopping very quickly. I also like eating Iftar as the food is delicious and many restaurants offer wonderful Iftar buffets for very reasonable prices. One big problem in Ramadan is the traffic and, when the drivers are tired, they make crazy mistakes when they drive!
Now all my colleagues are making plans for the Eid holiday - I wonder how many days we will get!
# posted by Heather Maria @ 10:16 pm 
