Sunboat Suhour

Cairo, Egypt

My CASA cultural guide and fellow RPCV (Morocco), Anita, is leaving Cairo tomorrow. She's one of those enviable uber-extroverts, so naturally she needed a going-away party in a big way, but in Ramadan, you have to get creative with the partying. Anita rose to the challenge with her "Sunboat Suhour."

From Ramadan Kareem fi Musr!

Suhour is the Arabic word for the meal Muslims eat before first light in Ramadan, about 3am local time this year, to fill their stomachs before beginning their daily fast.  Anita invited about 100 of her closest friends to join her on a boat on the Nile to eat and visit all night long, and then hear the call to prayer echo over the water at first light, and watch the sun rise over Cairo.

I didn't bring my camera because I'm not very good at night shots, and I'm so sorry I didn't! One of the most amazing parts of the adventure was walking home at 5:30am. The city was deserted. The only people around were a few police officers, asleep at their posts. It was a vision of Cairo you might never see at any other time!