Last Lap - Day 27 to 30

The final stretch. The last days to prove that everything was worth it. And the final episodes of Ramadan soap-operas! Yes it all comes together now. The near triumphant cacophony of excitement can be sensed on every street corner in Egypt. Everyone suddenly centres their lives around that end sprint - the women in an unspoken 24/7 bake-off between one another to master the coronary clog cookie kahk (spiced butter cookie), the children (a7baab allah..) tugging at their parent's hems to buy them new clothes for the Eid prayer, the cafe owners polishing their finest shishas for the return of day time coffee & a smoke, the petulant schoolchildren paying even less attention to focus instead on how they will spend their edeya [eid money gift] during their upcoming holiday, and even the sheep as they retreat into a corner in fear of the oncoming slaughter (or just chewing grass...).



Yes, all sights and sounds coalesce into one big unfathomable moment reminiscent of those first few moments before the curtains are drawn, the lights come up and the symphony strikes the first chord in full harmony. The chaos before the symbiotic performance commences. That is Egypt in the last three days of Ramadan. It has absolutely nothing to do with the Ramadan of the last 26 days.

Alas, even if you teach that man to fish, there is no guarantee he will eat it.

Now that I got the Grinch Who Stole The Last Three Days of Ramadan act out of the way I can proceed to tell you the other side of that story. Four hours up and one hour across in Holland the only concern I have is how to come up with a new tradition for Eid. That and why are my parents not calling me back? And how much I would love to have a artery clogging cookie right now.

The last three days consist of looking forward to the end of Ramadan to put into practice the theory of self improvement, restraint and balance. That's what it should be about anyway. Breaking your fast on Day 30 you are set with the knowledge that eventhough tomorrow you can enjoy breakfast at a human hour again, it is the hope and resilience of the past month that will nourish you up to next year. And re-runs of your favourite soap!