He concludes by saying: “Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed.”
“OH NO!” the President exclaims. “That’s terrible!”
His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the President sits, head in hands.
Finally, the President looks up and asks, “How many is a brazillion?”
To all my Muslim brothers and sisters out there … a very very BIG Ramadan Kareem!!!
I hope all your prayers are answered, and your sins are forgiven in this best of months.
Ramadan in Saudi is so amazing, I cannot even start to explain. Having spent Ramadan in the US for the last 15 years, being here is such a blessing. You actually feel the entire spirit of the city change; everyone becomes nicer, your work hours change to accomodate the long night hours, the shops are open till 3AM, and the sales are incredible!
Another excellent thing is the abundance of dates. Saudi is known for it’s dates, and knowing young guys who come from the smaller towns around the country is great. Usually these folks’ fathers have date farms, and many of them have been kind enough to shower me with a ton of dates. I think I have about 7lbs of fresh, juicy, extremely sweet, melt-in-your-mouth dates sitting in my fridge! It’s baking time!
The best part of Ramadan here are the longer-than-usual night prayers, called Taraweeh. It is so supercharged with emotion, it is hard to keep your eyes dry. In fact, not a single person leaves with dry eyes. Thanks to 2 Lieutenants I work with, Eid & Fahd, I was introduced to a new mosque that opened up recently. The Imam at this mosque is stupendous. His recitation is musical to the point of making you lose yourself completely.
And then when he starts his last prayer stand, it’s all over. You can hear people sobbing uncontrollably, echoing “Ameen” with their voices cracking. The Imam sometimes gets so overwhelmed, he has to stop and regain composure. Everynight, I come home with goosebumps, and the entire time you’re in the mosque you can feel chills in your spine from the electric atmosphere.
As a Muslim, I feel so extremely blessed to be in Saudi Arabia to experience this most beautiful month. I only hope that every Muslim can get this chance at least once in their life. Next weekend I will make a trip out to Makkah and Medina, another first for me during Ramadan.
Again, RAMADAN KAREEM to all the Muslims out there. Please use this time to reflect on your lives and make lasting and permanent changes to improve yourself.