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Cabbage: A little bit of colour to warm up another cold winter's day. |
I immediately reached for the large bottle of water stashed beside my bed and started guzzling. This was it, my first day of Ramadan.
A direct result of this guzzling and of the guzzling the night before was that I had to go straight to the toilet, and fast. This was something new. Not being a morning person I had always found it difficult getting up - especially when it was still dark outside. This bladder-feuled motivation to leap straight out of bed first thing was great novelty, and it seemed Ramadan had already taught me something before we had even started.
Hebbat got up more slowly and we began to make breakfast. A full and hearty meal of eggs, bread, fruit and cereals. I was eating and drinking like I was possesed, always with one eye on the clock. We had about 30 minutes before the fast began. The things we were eating and drinking would have to see us through all the way until sunset, which was more than 14 hours away. Somewhere I had heard that a human needed at least 8 cups of water a day to avoid dehydration. I figured if I got in my 8 cups (plus whatever else I could slam down), then at least theoretically I would be clear of any risk. Hence the guzzling and the clock watching.
When the clock struck 5:45, Hebbat gave the signal that it was time to stop eating. She went off to say her prayers while tried to go back to bed. This proved to be impossible due to the enourmous quantity food and water that I had consumed. Even though it was still terribly early, the only solution was to go for a walk and hope it would help in digesting the huge breakfast. With my stomach still groaning I awkwardly ambled out into the still dark streets of Paris.
While people say that New York is the city that never sleeps, I often joke that in contrast Paris is indeed the city that sleeps. Its natives have been disciplined by hundreds of years of living literally on top of each other and on the whole they are quite considerate. Its difficult to find a corner of the city that is still active past 2am due to the noise and disturbance it causes to neighbouring residents. They are also big fans of the grasse matinée (a classy way to say "sleeping-in"), so its almost impossible to find a shop that opens before 10am. So fast asleep is exactly how I discovered the city just before dawn. Its a side I had rarely seen, but one that shouldn't be missed. Walking along beside the Seine, its waters were a mirror reflection of the quiet surrounds. Passing by the grand monuments and spectacular cathedrals with nobody else around gave the impression that I had the city all to myself - a rare sentiment in a place so enormously popular with tourists.
I continued on by the river past the Notre Dame on a route that would become my morning stomach-settling ritual. Despite its reputation as "the city of lights", in the darkness before dawn I could still pick out some stars shining over the capital. In particular there was a nice arrangement of 3 very bright stars that seemed to form a line pointing due east - exactly the direction I happened to be walking. I kept following the river and these stars, and eventually from below them, the light of the rising sun began to grace the sky. Watching the colours change and be reflected in waters of the Seine was a magnificent sight and I was inspired by the power of such natural beauty to prevail, even against the distractions of a huge city. By the time the first rays broke over the skyline, my stomach was behaving itself and I was ready to head home.
If it hadn't been for a bladder bloated with 8-plus cups of water, I probably would have never seen the sun rise over Paris in this way. It seemed this Ramadan experiment was already paying off and when I got back home, I found there were other advantages too. With twelve hours still remaining until I could eat or drink, I had to distract myself from thoughts of hunger and thirst. I quickly realised that looking at the clock often was not a good idea. I also found I needed to avoid the kitchen area, as the fridge seemed to be a real and threatening temptation. The only other thing at hand was the boring paperwork that I had been trying to avoid all week. Starting on this provided the perfect anti-dote to temptation and in fact I got so involved getting it done that when I finally did cave in and check the clock again, I got a very nasty surprise...
