Ramadan fasting and feasting

Sam's babysitter, Munya, invited us to her house for their breaking of the fast tonight. In case you're not familiar with the customs... during the month of Ramadan (which is longer than our months), Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. Here in Morocco, Ramadan is an amazing time to be with family with loads of feasts with the whole family together. The food is a big part of the tradition (much like Thanksgiving in the US)- each evening they have harira (a delicious tomato based chickpea and noodle soup), dates, sfoof (which is ground almonds,flour,sugar,cinnamon and butter), and the kind of cookie seen in the picture below (fried dough with honey and sesame seeds), along with lots of other delicious foods. One of my favorite new tries of the evening was a kind of pancake with honey and butter melted together as a syrup- that'd be a good US pancake topping sometimes too I think. Also like November and December in the US- Moroccans tend to gain weight over Ramadan. Of course they are fasting during the day, but they are feasting each night too :-)

Some parts of Ramadan can be difficult- shorter tempers on the streets, and crazy driving and traffic between 3-5:30 every afternoon for example, but the family and food traditions are lovely.

Munya's family were so great to us and it was a real honor to eat with them. It also gave us a bigger appreciation for her daily commute- she lives really far away! Sam, who is often fussy during the later evening, was a dream- enjoyed being passed around and played with by all. As Munya's sister said, he knows how to play the guest. It was also a good evening for our French practice as no one spoke English and Munya and her sister speak French. Here are some more pics:


Sam with Munya's father. He worked for 20 years in Saudi Arabia at the Moroccan Embassy there as a chauffeur and had a picture with Mohammed Ali from one of "The Greatest"'s trips to Riyadh. Her dad is a really kind, gentle, serving man- I was impressed.

This is Munya with Sam and her mother on the left. It was fun to see them play together since we are usually gone when they hang out. Sam loves to be lifted over her head and blow bubbles on her scarf. Also they have a cute game with a plastic bag.
This is Munya's son, Hamza- he's 8, a bright kid. Munya and I have compared notes and he was a lot like Sam is as a baby. I'd be proud for Sam to be like him- cool kid.
This is the whole family- mom and dad in the middle- Munya and Hamza on the far right, Munya's sister between Hamza and her mom. The rest of the kids are Munya's sister's. They were great too- ages 11-17.