Ramadan is here and it feels so different for everyone who has moved back home from the Middle East. With so many families coming back to their home countries after years (it was never a permanent place to live, but we’ll ALWAYS be in denial of that!) now that it’s no longer the luxurious, tax free life we once enjoyed, we can’t help but feel nostalgia creeping in as soon as the Ramadan crescent is sighted.
That warm, fuzzy feeling inside of your neighbours calling you as soon as its chand raat and the city coming to life is something that you will always hold close to your daraktawa dil (beating heart) .
I think we can all agree that these memories are what EVERY single Middle Eastern kid misses in Ramadan.
1. The mouth-wateringly good manaeesh you would ask your driver to bring at 2am like it was the middle of the afternoon
Source: Mark Wiens/YouTube
2. Rushing to the market to overload on the countless types of amazing dates that you’d never remember the names of
I mean kajoor ya’ll, stop thinking of a live Tinder bazaar with stalls of your matches.
Source: My Dubai My City/YouTube
3. The insanely slow and shorter working days where everyone’s brains would still be in snooze mode
Source: Saudi Energy Efficiency Program
4. The lights shining all night of the over-the-top Ramadan decor at the malls with people shopping and eating like there’s no tomorrow
Source: Eyemates/YouTube
5. The excitement you would feel every time you would see your friends in the compound after iftar
Source: Sag Awards
6. Then walking arm in arm to your crowded neighbourhood masjid with your friends for taraweeh
It really gave us the feels, yo.
Source: Islamic Art DB
7. Entering the masjid only to start flapping your arms like a crazy person to drown yourself with the woody smell of bukhoor
Your abaya smells heavenly for days (for realz).
Source: Andulairah of Earth/YouTube
8. Black coffee or chai at iftar is just not the same, but you’ll drink it imagining that elaichi flavored goodness of gahwa anyway.
Source: Funnyordie
9. Splurging on the insanely lavish Ramadan iftar tents that would leave you feeling guilty of gluttony at its peak
Source: Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts/YouTube
10. Even if it wasn’t technically our home, it just doesn’t feel the same anywhere else without that familiar Ramadan buzz in the air
Source: Fox
Ajnabi Diaries 