Across the miles: Ramadan away from home

"The hardest part of spending Ramadan in a foreign country is that I greatly miss my family and the warmth of being surrounded by them at Iftar," says Rajib, an expat from Bangladesh who has been living and working in Dubai, UAE, since 2008.

"At that time I was working for a catering company in Abu Dhabi. They provided us with Iftar and Suhoor meals every day, so we never had to find ways to organise our meals. This made being away from home that much easier," he says, adding: "But nothing could make up for the warmth of being home and breaking the fast with your own family."

These days Rajib works at a cafeteria in Dubai. He says they are not provided with Iftar and Suhoor meals, and they can't leave early to prepare their own Iftar meals. What usually happens is that he or one his friends prepares Suhoor so that they can all have Suhoor together.

For others, a change in traditions and culture can be quite a challenge.

Egyptian Ameer’s first Ramadan away from his family was in Qatar in 1996. The most difficult factor, he says, was, "The subtle differences between traditions in Egypt, where I come from, and those in Qatar.”

“That and the food. I missed our food."

While he missed the simple, informal atmosphere he enjoyed back home, making new friends and trying to adapt to your new home helps, Ameer says.

"Once I made a conscious decision to let go of the continuous nostalgia that played in my head and I started joining in the local traditions, things got much easier for me."

Another UAE expat, Anas, who hails from Syria, agrees.

"I arrived here in the month of Ramadan itself. I think this was fortunate for me because the working hours were much shorter, which meant I could use the time to get to know the city," he says, adding, "I was also fortunate because I have friends who had been living in Dubai for a while, so I didn't feel so alone when I got here."

Palestinian women make traditional date-filled cookies in preparation for the Eid al-Fitr holiday at their home …

Due to the accessibility of restaurants offering Iftar meals, neither he nor his friends ever stressed over what to eat for Iftar and, as none of them cooked, didn’t feel pressured into preparing Iftar meals at home for their friends.

But expats living in Muslim-minority nations don’t have the same advantages as those in the Middle East or GCC.

"I was single and alone when I arrived in Guangzhou city in China early in 2005. It was a huge culture shock to fast in Ramadan in such an environment that was so alien to me," Ahed, also Syrian, says. "I had no idea how to use the Chinese eating utensils; the food was strange, and I desperately missed the spiritual Ramadan rituals of my hometown.

"After my first Ramadan, I would do my best to ensure that my annual leave always fell during the month of Ramadan so that I could be home, with my family, during the month of fasting. I also learned to cook and I learned to adjust to my new environment."

Venturing out slowly and gradually exploring local foods and traditions, he advises.

"My advice to people moving to a foreign country would be to try to learn the language, and be ready to learn to adjust. China can be tough for Muslims, the culture is so different, and there is also the issue of whether or not the available food is halal or not."

Ahed is now married and says fasting in Ramadan is much easier. "I feel like I come back to a home now, not just a place to sleep as before. And my wife is a good cook!"

But the main issue still remains. The culture in China is so vastly different to that in the Middle East, and unlike in Europe, there aren't enough Muslims to create a community that would permit its members to feel less isolated, helping them to feel the spirituality of the holy month together.

"Also, mosques are far and few between," he adds.

A man reads the Koran at Ibn Tulun Mosque in old Cairo, during the first Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, July …

Across the world in Spain, Moroccan Saeed echoes similar sentiments.

"It was very tough when I first arrived to Tuelada in Spain. There was no consideration made to Muslims at all, and the working hours seemed long and hard when I was fasting," Saeed, who came to Spain in 2003, says.

When he first arrived in the small coastal town on the Costa Blanca in Spain, mosques and Muslims were few and far between.

"There were no mosques, no Muslim communities; I could not find any food similar to the sort of food we had back home," he adds. Saeed would eat bread and cheese for Iftar, and lots of sweets or sweet desserts from the local supermarket to give him energy for the next day.

Saeed lived with four other single men from Morocco and they all learned to cook as best they could, distributing Iftar duties between them.

"What we missed the most, beside our family and friends back home, was being able to practice the spiritual rituals of Ramadan in communion. These rituals strengthen you, giving you the feeling and spirit of Ramadan: eating and praying together, supporting each other, sharing the spirituality with others who understand and feel the same way," he says.

Nowadays, things are much easier. "The Muslim community in Spain has grown. There is always a nearby mosque," he reflects, explaining that the mosques are simply rooms or halls rented from the local municipalities that have been turned into prayer areas.

"Food is also much easier to find now - I mean, the food we eat back home," Saeed continues with a smile on his face. Many local Moroccan and Tunisian restaurants have opened within the last couple of years, much to his delight.

"But the most important difference," he says, "is that the Spanish now have a better understanding of Islam, Ramadan and fasting. I feel we have finally bridged that cultural gap, and in Spain there seems to be a growing interest in the country's Muslim past."