Ramadan in Ethiopia: whither cafe society?

Last weekend marked the start of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting. (30-50% of Ethiopians are Muslim, depending on which polls you read.) Unlike Orthodox Christian fasting, which basically means being a chaste, tee-totaling, vegan for 24 hours, the Muslim fasting means no food, drink, or sex between sunup and sundown. I bet the first few days of no caffeine and no food makes people really cranky. OTOH, the fast-breaking with families every evening is a joyous time that I've observed in more than one country.

But what happens to socializing with friends over coffee? As the coffee society is one of the main ways for (especially) single people to interact with their friends, what happens during Ramadan? Can someone go and hang out with their non-Muslim friends at the coffee shop and just not eat or drink? Wouldn't that be difficult?

Comments

[reader]

I think it depends on the person but most muslims avoid going anywhere there is a restaurant or
eatery during Ramadan in attempt to avoid being witnessed by someone else to think the "faster" could be eating during Ramadan which is a taboo. There are some muslims that do not fast and do eat hiding. That was my experience

[Stew]

My only experience with Ramadan was teaching a 15 year old student who spent the day very cranky because he couldn't eat or drink anything. That was here in the US, so it has little to no bearing on your experience. Nonetheless, I decided to share it.

[shireen]

Ah, I love Ramadan! I spent many many Ramadans in the Middle East. In general, the hours for socializing just switch to the evening and long into the night instead of the mornings or afternoons. So cafes are open into the late night hours and people visit and drink coffee and all sorts of special snacks then.

You really wouldn't want to be seen at a restaurant or coffee house during daylight hours in case a friend or relative saw you and thought that you weren't fasting. Fasting during Ramadan is a public sign of membership in the Muslim community (how much you pray or give to charity or whether you go on the hajj is a private matter) but the aunts, uncles, cousins, and co-workers will all find out if you don't fast (or at least hear about it if you make a public display like hang out in a cafe) and consider it a rejection of one's religious identity.

And yes, during the first few day in particular the nicotine withdrawal and caffine headaches make lots of people grumpy. It is not the time when a lot of work get done in government offices.

[Marc]

The idea of socializing at night with all your friends works well in countries that are mostly muslim. Here in Ethiopia, it's about 50/50 Christian/Muslim. There are lots of great cross-religion friendships. So how do you see your Christian friends during Ramadan?