The Sound of Forks

Well, Ramadan is in full swing now, and although it has not been too bad for us yet, it is mostly because we haven't had to be out and about during the day yet.  It started just yesterday on Saturday and I went to the grocery store at about 9 in the morning and I was amused by how much more food there is in the store during this time of year.  For those of you who don't know what Ramadan is, it is a month where the Muslims fast from sun up to sunset.  They are not allowed to eat anything, drink anything, smoke anything, and I have even been told that they are not supposed to swallow their own spit.  How many people follow it that close, I am not really sure.  But one thing I have observed is that there is a lot more food in the stores and it seems to me much more like a month of feasting, then fasting.  

Last year when we were here we had heard people saying that during the iftar, (the evening meal when they break their fast), they could hear forks and knives clanging in the houses, but I had thought it was an exaggeration.  Well it was no exaggeration.  Tonight we went outside after we had eaten dinner and it was almost eerie how quiet the street was during the call to prayer, and......we heard it!  We heard people's silverware clanging against plates as they began to eat.  It was so funny!  I guess because everyone is eating at the same time, there are no cars driving in the street, so it is quiet enough to hear the sound of forks and knives on the plates.  Funny!