Not so Fast

I managed the first two days of Ramadan fasting with no problems. But then I went to Dahab. Swimming in the very salty Red Sea and spending most of the day in the sun while not drinking any water would have been all bad. So I decided to have a reverse fast and eat ungodly amounts of wonderful seafood dinners, massive three course breakfasts and a general level of debauchery that can only fall comfortably in such pleasurable surrounds.

Now I planned to return to fasting as soon as I left Dahab, but I hit another snag. Our microbus didnt get back to Cairo till 4AM, so by the time I got to the train station the following day I was dying for water. In the Koran travellers are allowed to break their fast, just one of the logistical pragmatics of Islam, so I grabbed a bottle of water. Not wanting to temp people who were fasting I hid facing the corner of a small room in the station, behind a phone box and sculled the water in no time.. But not fast enough to not get hissed at by two guys walking behind me. Again I wished I had insta-Koran knowledge and could have shouted at them the rules for travelling during Ramadan. Insta-Koran would be handy in Egypt, I would love to quote some scripture at guys on the street who hiss at women for being unveiled, or for being alone at 8pm, or being western.

One more thing before this rant ends. Egyptian guys dont wear shorts. Whats the deal? Its like 40 degrees and everyones in long pants. I say they need to get over the ol' timey colonial days and bust out the hibiscus okanuis. I'm told that Egyptian guys consider it manly to wear pants and consider that shorts imply a lack of masculinity. This is great. Egyptian guys are generally incredibly homophobic, BUT the guys hold hands in public, not just holding it's better described as cradling. They kiss each other hello and theres a lot of general man-man cuddling going down, but would often hiss if a man and a women greeted in such a fashion... And they think shorts aren't masculine.

So today I'm back to fasting, still have an hour before I can drink anything and am getting a bit cranky... which is against the rules. Damn... Shorts or Pants: One Love.