An American in Ramadan – III (Shopping Days)

Ramadan is about many things other than the consumption of food — or, I should say, the non-consumption of food. One of those things is shopping, and the Souk Mouawwad, a shopping strip in the southern suburb of Chiyyah (which is, natch, predominantly Shia), celebrates by suspending hundreds of colorful umbrellas over the entire avenue. It makes for a surreal effect — I went to check it out today, after seeing a similar AFP photo in the Daily Star earlier this week — although, as a fan of international consumerism, I was almost as much taken in by the obscure Middle Eastern off-brands that dominate the strip. Prestige. Engine. Buda. Forever. And my personal favorite:

I Crew.

According to this article in the Washington Post, one way to measure popular sentiment in the Arab world is to see how street vendors in Cairo are pricing their variously nicknamed Ramadan dates. In 2006, in the aftermath of the Israel-Lebanon war, the “Nasrallah rocket” date was the most prized — bringing in $2 a pound — while the lowest valuations went to the “Bush” and “Olmert” dates, which sold for a measly 11 cents a pound. No word yet on 2009′s price scheme, as far as I can see, but surely we can make some educated guesses: Hugo Chavez date, $1.75, Obama date, $1; Ahmadinejad date, $2; Netanyahu date, 6c; Hariri date, $5 (he’s a martyr now, right?). What else?

Another thing Ramadan is about, lest this post start to sound too crassly commercial, is charity. The Daily Star reports today that  Ramadan donations of $4 million are expected to help save a hospital in Beirut that specializes in geriatric and psychological care. The hospital is partially state-supported, but it must raise 60% of its operating costs from private donations each year.