Ramadan kareem

Finally the Holy month of Ramadan is here, this year being celebrated between 1-30 August. Just to imagine how this is happening in Muslim countries, this month is like the December month for Christian, especially Christmas days, with lights and decorations and fasting and others as such.
And because living in an Islamic country, of course we have to adjust to the conditions. One rule here, Ramadan or no Ramadan, Muslims are called for prayer 5 times a day, meaning that in the city you can hear the readings from Coran in the speakers of every mosque...and believe me there are a lot of mosques. The Muslim prayers are happening at specifid timings, the first prayer being in early morning at 04:26, Fajer, at 05:46 Sunrise, at 12:30 Dohor, Aser at 15:56, Magreb at 19:06 and Isha at 20:36. But especially in this month, because of fasting from morning till dawn, eating and drinking is not allowed in public...

As a sign of respect for the locals, all non Muslims should not eat any kind of food or drink, not even water in front of the Muslim people who are not eating and drinking all day.
So how to live in this crazy heat without at least drinking water. Our luck is that, being such various in nationalities, our dear company permits us, the "guests", to drink water during working hours no matter if Muslims are around or not, and to eat in public, but only in specific areas :) So we are saved.
Definitely I will need to pay lots of attention with this drinking or eating, cause today I just found myself with the bottle of water at my mouth in the middle of the bus...without realizing that I am surrounded by locals...who are fasting. I closed my bottle immediately and put it back in my bag, just like nothing happened. Luckily no one said anything, probably they were to sleepy to notice me :P
More about Ramadam here.

Did you know... (part 2)

Just 3 stories about life in Dubai this time, but many more to come :)

* Last night we went in a club named Barasti. Actually going in the club is probably the only thing you can do here in weekend at night. And here comes the funny part of it all, the closing time. If in Romania I was used to leave a party at minimum 4 in the morning, in Dubai all clubs close at 2,30... I don’t really know the reason but it’s very annoying. When you get in the mood, bang music off, light off and everyone has to leave. Silly thing, isn’t it?

* Besides this, of course people do not kiss here. I barely see from time to time couples holding hand in public, but kissing, definitely NOT. Well, actually in India was the same, but comparing the number of foreigners from Dubai with the number of foreigners in my ex home town in India, it should have made a difference. But no. It seems even tourists respect this local rule in public, they do not make out at all. Which is quite good from my point of view. Well maybe not as strict as it is here, but still. Most of all, I’ve heard, only heard not seen with my eyes, that there is a certain authority in UAE that is in charge of these show offs in public, so if someone see you doing this on the streets, or wearing to short clothes or transparent or any how indecent, you get a fine. Therefore no short skirts for me :P

* I am sure everyone knows the Islamic rule which says that Muslim women have to walk covered, some only hair, others only face, but anyways covered. I am curious how many know what is a woman like this wearing under that long, hot, black robe? Guess what? From Gucci, till Louis Vuiton, from Armani to Chanel and many many others, the Islamic woman have an amazing passion for clothing, especially shoes and bags, because these are the items that you can see coming from under the robe, which is actually called...abaya. And the unmissing parts of the look, gold jewelers and the phone, which is either Blackberry or I Phone. I was asking an Egyptian woman one day how they can bare the scarf on the head in 45 degrees. Don’t they sweat like crazy? Well it seems they don’t, because they are doing this since they were little and the body got used to it. Amazing, huh?

More fascinating things about UAE in the next episode :P

Did you know... (part 1)

Some things about Dubai that are not very well known for people around the world.

* The entire city of Dubai hosts 195 nationalities from all over the globe. Working in different companies, in different fields, or just in vacation, with or without their families or friends, people come in Dubai seeking for things they did not find in their home countries, with the idea that they will have maybe a better life, or just to make a change, or to have a great holiday. And amazingly get all that. The city provides such conditions so that people can have a normal life, above the poverty limit. Therefore no poor people on the streets, no dust and no garbage (except for some small areas).

* Besides the garbage and dust, one thing you do not see on the streets of Dubai are dogs. These animals do not seem to exist in this area except in people’s houses, as in owned dogs. Our trainer sais cats are everywhere, but since I came here I saw only 2, one on a beach and one in my building at the doormen. * And actually today, on my way to the city, I saw in a neighborhood 2 cats next to a shop, eating like crazy. So a total of 4 cats in one month... Man I miss animals :X

* Emirates Group itself is the home company of 165 nationalities, brand no. 270 in the world with the most eco friendly aircrafts in the airline industry.

* Besides the 195 nationalities within Dubai, not remembering the exact number, more than 60% or the people living in Dubai are Indians, so imagine the amount of spices on the shops, of course never comparing with Bombay or any other city in India : )

* An amazing thing in the city are the highways, that have between 2 and 6 lines on each side. Just to have a clear impression, imagine the highways that connect Hungary to Austria. Those you find within Dubai, but much better kept. And of course if you have highways you have speed, so the maximum speed limit within some of these highways is 120 km...IN THE CITY.

* By the way I didn’t hear not even 1 car horn since I came here, these people are very peaceful when it comes to driving, even if they speed. Every car on its line, not like in India :P, every cab chauffeur wearing uniform, all civilized and in place.

* Dubai Mall is the mall with the biggest nos. of shops in the world, and inside you can find the biggest indoor aquarium if I well understand. It is simply amazing. When you stand outside the mall, in front of Burj Khalifa, the lovely Dubai Dancing Fountain will cheer you sense, with its unique capacity of actually dancing...

* I suppose that I don’t have to mention that Burj Khalifa is the major attraction in the city, being the tallest building in the world, of more than 820 m high. Inside you cannot find much, just hotels, restaurants, among these the Armani hotel (which I don’t want to know how much expensive it is) and others :P The building tour costs 100 Dhs if you book in advance, or if you just go to see it without booking it costs 400 Dhs.

* Vegetation is totally missing in this city, except some areas where there are some improvised parks, barely staying green thanks to a good irrigation system. The rest is all sand and specific desert plants, half green half yellow. I am craving for a forest you guys...heeelp!!!!!

To be continued...

Ghidul 7 - Kanyadaan ceremony

And here we are, with a small delay of 2 weeks cause my friend Zahraa was out of station, with the last ceremony of a traditional Indian wedding, where the bride no longer belongs to her family, but to her husband. The ceremony called Kanyadaan.

An idiot’s guide to an Indian wedding

6. Kanyadaan


The evening of the Nikah (the official marriage ceremony) was the reception. Anywhere from 500 to 2000 guests are invited. It's a strange sight, almost like a circus where everyone is turned up in really sparkly clothes.
Most Indian weddings are outdoors, usually in a lawn or a park. If it's too late, tents are erected. Otherwise, chairs are scattered everywhere. My brother's wedding was in a synagogue.
The bride and the groom are seated on a stage. The guests are expected to go up to them and wish them , instead of the other way around. It's considered auspicious to give the couple money in denomination on Rs 1. For example: they would give and envelope stuffed with Rs 1001 or even Rs 5001.
To keep a track on these envelopes, we had to take turn to be on our "duty". Also there is no specific dinner timing. The dinner opens at 7.30 pm and the guests are expected to eat whenever they are hungry.
The reception dies at about 1 am-after which the couple leaves. The father of the bride now symbolically places her hand into the groom's hand and asks him to take care of her. This last ritual called Kanyadaan, loosely translated means "donating the bride".

The Human Planet

"Only one creature has carved the life of itself in every habitat on Earth. That creature is us. All over the world we still use our ingenuity to survive in the wild places, far from the city lights, face to face with the raw nature. This is the Human Planet."

Since 3 days I am simply fascinated while discovering our "small world", even doe it's through some lenses, on a sophisticated machine called computer. I am calling it sophisticated because everything I have seen in the past few days has been so simple and natural, just like long looong time ago, before many things got to rule our living.
The whole above description refers to BBC documentary, Human Planet, an amazing combination of sounds, images with a remarkable story teller, actor John Hurt, bringing in front in every single minute the extraordinary relationship that humans have with nature.
The documentary was first launched in UK on BBC One, during 8 weeks, starting 13th Of January 2011. The stories are spread in 8 episodes, but the filming of the entire movie took about 3 years in many many countries, on all continents.
I usually don't have the patience to watch serials, but this is one is simply amazing, making me forget that it finishes in 8 episodes. Or may I say it never finishes. Actually in every story I am fascinated and I think how lucky and blessed those people were (the working team I mean) to witness such amazing human rituals, and how much those scenes have changed their life values.
Each episode has a topic, like the human life and global waters, human life in the jungle, in the mountains and others.
I am going to tell you some of my favorite discoveries from these episodes, letting you discover the rest while watching them, if I made you curious of course (and I am sure I will :P )

One of the stories brings in front Sulbin, a normal man as it may first seem, who lives with his family in the Sulu Sea from Borneo. And when I write "in the sea" I mean that the houses are actually constructed in the sea, kilometers away from land. Sulbin's family is used to live here, they find small happiness moments while sailing with their wooden boat on the crystal waters. The sea is just like land for them, more than that, when they set foot on land they feel the thing called land-sick (equivalent with the sea-sick that we have when we sail the seas) But Sulbin's normality fades away when he starts showing the BBC team how he provides food to his family. He has the capability to stay under water for maximum 5 minutes, with only one breath. It was amazing to see how the super equipments of the team were nothing comparing to Sulbin, who was walking on the bottom of the water, at more that 20 m down, in his underwear with one spear, with which he was catching dinner for his family.


In the hearts of the Himalayas, at huge altitudes of over 4000m, where vegetation is just a dream and the air is quite rarefied, Do Tharap, one of the highest communities of Earth has one major problem : the disposal of the dead. What do you do with the body where there is only rock and no wood to start a fire for an incineration, when Buddhist don't have the habit of borrowing the corps?
There are certain people that have the job to prepare an old Buddhist ritual, a sky burial. The family walks along with the corps on a high mountain top, says the last prayers and goes back to the village, letting the funeral person, a non Buddhist, to do the rest.
On the top of the mountain the undertaker receives the help of other creatures living at those heights, the vultures. After the man cuts the body in peaces, the birds eat it, clearing the worries away from the community.


In the village of Djenne in Africa, the people have a huge problem in a certain time of the year, when the monsoons bring the rough rains and winds. Their religious home is an old mosque, completely made of river mud. When the monsoons come, their mosque is on the verge of being flushed away if the locals don't interfere. Therefor, every year, the entire village starts working on the fortification of the mosque, before the heavy rains begin. The people carry baskets full of mud from the nearby river, and paint the entire mosque, all together, to fortify it and make it strong in front of the weather. This habit has kept the religious house standing for more than 700 years.

A human habit in the jungles of Brazil was astonishing for me, especially because it is practiced by small local children. When the kids get hungry, they rush in the jungle to find some "snacks", and oh my Good what snacks. The food they often seek for is named Goliath, and is actually the largest spider in the world. They catch the spider with their hands, using a small stick to immobilize the victim. After each kid gets its spider, they make a small fire, cook them and eat them. They say it's delicious, but I have my doubts.

It's all about community, help, survival, about the laws of the nature and how we, the people, managed to adjust or even change some of them. It's about ways of life but most important about us. It's all about us. I hope I made you curious enough to seek for the stories yourself. If it is so, enjoy =)

"More than half of us now live in cities, and we are using up nature's resources as never before. We are, without doubt, the most inventive and powerful creature on the planet. We are so successful, we've highjacked the whole world for our own ends. But the consequences of our voracious lives are spiraling out of control. Are we pushing the natural world towards a crisis? Where do we go from here?"

Ghidul 6 - Nikah

An idiot’s guide to an Indian wedding

5.Nikah

The Christian equivalent of this ceremony is when you go to the church to get married. The Muslim of course go to the mosque.

My mum woke us all up bright and early, and somehow we forgot to wake up the groom, who was sleeping an hour before he was supposed to get married!

There is a tradition in my dad’s side of the family. When a boy gets married, the father gives the sisters money. I don’t know why they do this, but heck, I’m not the one to refuse money ;p

Apparently we could negotiate with my father, and ask for whatever amount we pleased, since no one told us this vital piece of information, we were short-changed.

Before the groom left the house, we all had to feed him something sweet. It could be anything, traditional Indian sweets, chocolate, pancakes etc. But every single person must feed him.

At the mosque, the Kazi (it means ‘chief official’ in Arabic) conducted the ceremony. In Islam, marriage is a contract. Both sides of the parties have some conditions, which the other one must fulfill before they get married.

The bride’s condition is usually ‘Mehr’ (bride price)- the groom must offer the bride (not her family) anything she asks for. It could be money, gold, an apartment and so on. I think in ancient times, this was a good system, because if the husband turned out to be a bad husband, and didn’t give the wife any money, the wife could still support herself.

The bride asked for 75 grams of gold and a book. In my family, the groom’s don’t make any demand, and my brother followed this tradition.

Coming back to the ceremony, the Kazi first asks if the conditions have been fulfilled. If they haven’t, then we cannot move further. Now, its like a typical Christian wedding, the Kazi asks the groom and bride if they accept. Once they do, they are declared man and wife.

We celebrate by distributing dates ad sugar, after which everyone came home for a large lunch.

The same evening was the Reception, stay tuned in for that.

Ghidul 5 - Henna party 2

An idiot’s guide to an Indian wedding

4. Groom’s Mehendi

Well clearly this is the opposite of the Bride’s version. In this case though, the groom doesn’t get any henna on his hands!

Since it was hosted at our apartment. I expected to meet very pissed off neighbors the next day due to the loud noises.

Finally, the groom will receive his presents, from both his and the bride’s parents. His presents will be pale in comparison to the bride’s. Its quite normal for him to receive tons of wrist watches, clothes, money and so on.

There is also a special custom to give the groom’s mother a special present, maybe as a ‘thank God you’re done raising him!’ kind of present! This is usually clothes. By the end of the wedding, my mother estimated that she would not need to buy any new clothes for the next five years.
The groom’s sisters also gave him presents as well and maybe they threatened to show everyone his naked baby photos.

Sometime while all of this was happening, the bride’s cunning sisters (or cousins) will steal the groom’s shoes and hide them. In order to get them back, the groom must pay the girls whatever money is demanded. This is a very old Indian custom, aimed at bleeding the groom dry!
Women not involved in the stealing process busy themselves by creating a pattern of colored rice on the floor. Regular uncooked rice is dyed in various colors and then used to make a design. After the ceremony, this rice is washed to get rid of the color and then donated to a poor person.

Ghidul 4 - Henna party

Si iata-ne ajunsi, dragi prieteni, la partea cea mai frumoasa a unei ceremonii matrimoniale hinduse (dupa parerea mea desigur), ziua in care miresei i se aplica minunata hena :)

An idiot’s guide to an Indian wedding

3. Bride's Mehendi

Mehendi or Henna is a party thrown by the bride’s parents so that people can come get henna tattoos on their hands. Generally only women apply henna. The groom’s family is also invited, although, we will not get any henna.

Tradition says that the darker the henna on the bride’s hands, the more her husband loves her. I’ve seen bride’s employ all kinds of crazy methods to darken the henna, from eucalyptus oil to even pain-relieving ointments!

The only reason we (the groom’s sisters) were there was to give the bride all her presents from her mother-in-law. This huge bag included dozens of pairs of traditional Indian clothing, massive amounts of gold jewelery, shoes, bags, makeup stuff, and even irrelevant things like handkerchiefs.

If I ever decide to get married, it will only be because the above-mentioned bag lures me.

Both sets of families exchange presents. These could be anything ranging from watches, to perfume, or even gold! Normally it’s clothing. But we were incredibly lucky, because besides the clothes, we got a little travel kit and we each received Coach bags!

Although this party is aimed at women (due to the henna), lots of men are invited as well. You see, the women get henna on both their hands, and they cannot touch anything until the henna dries. The men are invited so that they can do all the work, such as feed the women.