Hotels, grocery stores and food outlets, including fast food chains and restaurants, are all gearing up to welcome Ramadan, the holy fasting month for Muslims. Grocery stores are displaying stockpiles of items that are in demand during the fasting month. Food items now on display include oats, qamraddin (dried apricots), and pastry for making sambosak, the flaky meat or vegetable pies that people buy in bulk for the month. The beverage section in every grocery store is stocked with cartons of various kinds of thirst quenchers, as this year Ramadan begins in the summer. A fasting person abstains from drinks between dawn and dusk. Tents are being erected adjacent to mosques to provided charity Iftar meals. Large numbers of expatriates, mostly laborers, turn up to break their fast with food distributed in the tents. Companies that produce bottled water and juices are expecting a huge demand and have said that they will be fully prepared to supply sufficient quantities to the market. Offices in both the public and private sectors have announced a reduction in working hours from eight to six during the holy month. Some embassies in the Diplomatic Quarter, particularly those of Muslim countries, have also changed their working schedule. Following King Abdullah's instructions, both Saudi-owned and international community schools have extended the summer vacation to include the month of Ramadan. With the advent of Ramadan, which is tentatively set for Aug. 22, will come a change in lifestyles as people prefer to stay awake late into the night during the holy month. Apart from fasting, Ramadan is also a month for almsgiving (Zakah), and charity activities increase with people donating food and sponsoring Iftar meals for the poor and deserving members of the society. Taking advantage of the increased spirituality of people, some companies find Ramadan to be a good occasion to host PR events along with Iftar and Sahour parties. Riyadh's leading luxury hotels are now engaged in giving final touches to their respective venues for such events.
