NOTHING fosters the community spirit like Ramadan, even if the community is a virtual one in cyberspace. Here's a sampling of interesting Ramadan posts from some Saudi-themed blogs: Jeddah Food.com touted as “The Major point of call for all those wishing to find out about the latest restaurants, food and hot spots in Jeddah” features independent restaurant reviews and has a searchable database for visitors. The site is written by visitors for visitors, there are no ‘paid for' reviews, which means you get genuine opinions on the site. In keeping with the advent of Ramadan, their last blog post is about ‘Saudi Luxury Dates': “As Ramadan approaches there will almost certainly be a rush to stock up on dates (called “tamr” in Arabic). The fruit is incredibly popular in Saudi Arabia and is particularly good when fresh. There are sure to be huge packs on offer across stores over the next month, although be warned, it may cost you a little more than usual. With over 400 varieties in Saudi Arabia, it can be quite tricky when it comes to choosing the variety of dates to buy. Six of the most popular in the kingdom are: sekki, sukkari, ‘ajwah, dekieri, nubout sayf and khlas.” They talk about a store (one of many in the Kingdom) that sells “dates with a twist, stuffed with ingredients like sweet lemon, pineapple peel, almonds and marzipan... they also offer dates dipped in Belgian Chocolate, date cookies and even non-alcoholic date champagne (which is very good).” SaudiJeans.com talks about the blogger's hometown Al-Hassa: “Al-Hasa, my hometown, is well-known for producing some of the best dates in the world. One type in particular, khlas, has a legendary reputation for its sweet taste. Reading through the two parts of the article (in a 2004-edition of the Saudi Aramco magazine about dates in Al-Hassa) made me feel proud, but it also made me feel a bit sad because growing dates has become a dying profession. The process consumes huge amounts of water, and as most of the natural water springs in the region have dried up, the costs have been rising to a degree where production for commercial purposes is becoming less and less profitable. One point the writer gets right though, and I'm certainly glad that he does, is that most Hassawis don't buy their dates from the market but rather from farmers they know directly. Not to mention of course that most families receive amounts of dates as gifts from friends and relatives. Actually, in many years we get more than we need of dates that we end up giving away some of it and freeze some of it to enjoy later in the year.” AmericanBedu.com, which is the blog of an American ex-diplomat married to a Saudi marks the first day of Ramadan with the words: “Whether Muslim or not, this is a good time for all of us to reflect on who we are, how we live, how we wish to be perceived and especially, how do we treat those who are less fortunate and suffering. Ramadan is always a time of reflection for me to take stock of myself and my life. It is also a time to remember the true spirit and meaning of Ramadan. It is NOT the time to change the days into night and night into days. It is not the time to troll the malls after the fast has been broken. It is however the time to remember the teachings and examples of the Prophet, peace be upon him.” SusieofArabia.com, is another Jeddah-based blog by an American married to a Saudi, who has been in Jeddah since 2007. She has a photo-blog that features beautiful pictures of Jeddah's street-life: from blue hearts on a wrought iron door to yachts docked on the Red Sea shoreline, it's all extremely eye-catching stuff. She has a parallel blog called ‘Susie's Big Adventure' with more personal posts. __
