Ramandham

Yesterday I made it to the Ramandham Market near campus. To my western eyes it did not compare with a German Christmas market - perhaps it was the absence of beer, wine, and boisterous Germans. I understand that special foods made/cooked only during Ramandham were there, but without a guide I had no idea. Overall it was the usual collection of stalls, so no photo. (I have made e a mental note to get a picture of stalls they are an obequous presence here.)

Tonight I have class from 6:30 to about 9:00. Two or three weeks ago someone in the class suggested that we change the time from 8:00 to 10:00. I balked. I assured them that they would have a long break to break fast and pray. Now I feel a little bad - apparently the convention is to start class sometime between 8 and 8:15. I asked one of the econ profs today what he did and he said that he goes from 8:00 - 11:00. Actually the class looks close to brain dead by 9:00 and I hate to assess my performance as the night wears one.

The campus is relatively quiet. About 7:00 a crowd appears at the mosque to break fast together - during the day the campus is missingthe large groups of people headed out to eat. On Friday offices close from 12:15-2:45 for lunch and prayer. Naive me, since it was fasting month I figured that the offices wouldn't be closed as long. They were - I was told that the substitute for lunch is shopping.