Well Happy Ramadan to you too!

This is not a good way for me to kickstart my first Ramadan back in Kuwait.

I'm enjoying a coffee during my lunch break with my (best) coworker, Nina, when I receive a call from The Dragon (my grandmother). I call her that because she is known throughout as 'The Woman Who Will Not Take "No" For an Answer'. She is extremely demanding, and is someone most people really go out of their way to avoid spending time with. As much as I feel bad for the fact that she's become lonely as a result of people avoiding her, I cant help but believe that she only has herself and difficult character to blame for this...

Dragon: Ha! This Ramadan you come and have iftar with the family.

Me: Of course, I will definitely will come by if I am not having iftar elsewhere.

Dragon: Laa la! You will have iftar with us every night. Tig3adeen ma3a'l yehal, and you stay with the family, then you can go out.

Me: But I have been invited elsewhere for iftars too...

Dragon: Nooo! You tell them "Sorry, I must have iftar with my family".

Me: Well... I wouldn't want to insult them by turning down their invitations.

Dragon: Minou these people you are having iftar with?! Who is fasting with you? Huh?! Minou? La! You are eating with us!

Me: They are my friends and coworkers... and they are Muslim too you know..

Dragon: Baaaaas! You tell them you are having iftar with the family, and you can meet them for suhour at 10 oclock.

Me: I have my suhour at 4am-

Dragon: Here in Kuwait we don't have it right before fajr. Noone eats suhour at 4 in the morning!

Me: Well, I always have...

Dragon: Shoofi. Enough, you are eating with us, every night, throughout Ramadan.

(At this point I'd given up trying to weasle my way out of Iftar)
Me: yeah yeah.. ok ok.. Yes, ok mama... Ok.. Yeah. Ok I have to get back to work now.

Dragon: What kind of work is this?! Ha?! I want to find out more about it. They make you work too much!

Sigh... i am against totalitarianism, even from a family member. I do not like being made to do something I do not wish to do, and will bitch for days about it...

Is it really like this in Kuwait? Do people only have iftars with the family and not over at other people's homes? I can understand spending the first couple of weeks with the family, but after that?

Would love to hear your thoughts and experiences...

First Poll Results

Interesting... I never would have thought it would have turned out the way it did. In all honesty, I did not partake in the voting, and had my own hunch that The Don would have come out with the highest votes... but Bo Jaij did (?!), with The Don riding in second place.

So congrats to Bo on that... :-)


Poll Question:
Blogettes, which of these bloggers would you choose for a dinner date?