Global Voices Online

Ramadan, food and shopping were top priorities among Kuwaiti bloggers last week.

To start off, Amer at Hilaliya provides a picture of inside a mosque (masjid) before prayers.

“That's a wonderful photo, Amer, for those of us who never see the inside during prayer,” comments Intlxpatr, an expatriate in Kuwait.

Erzulie talks about a typical Ramadan day for her.

“So Ramadan funks up the metabolism. That’s nice. One of the things that I do love about Ramadan though is the aroma of familiar foods you smell just before you enter the house. That has never changed and I hope it never will.”

EXzombie , one of the upcoming young Kuwaiti directors, announces plans about his new project over at exzombiesm.

“Some of you might know already that I'm working on a project about the Kuwaiti blogosphere, and bloggers, I'm finishing my research soon, and would like to start shooting some interviews,” he explains.

Frankom , meanwhile, talks about his trip to Sultan Center (a hyper market in Kuwait) and how he felt.

كنت بالقرب من مركز سلطان … كنت أريد فقط معجون أسنان بعض الحلويات والكاكاو ، بماذا خرجت ؟

I was near Sultan Center, I just wanted toothpaste, some candy and chocolate but what did I leave with?

الكيك والكعك والخبز والعصائر … حتى الصوص بجميع أنواعه !! الموظفون هنا وهناك … العملاء منتشرون … البعض يقف عند الالبان والبعض الاخر عند اللحوم ! كل شيئ طازج .. الريحة الزكية القادمة من المخبز … كل شيئ مرتب ومنظم

Cake, bread, juice .. even different kinds of sauce!! There were employees here and there and customers everywhere -
some at dairy products counters and others at the meat produce counters. Every thing is fresh and a nice aroma was coming from the bakery. Also, everything was organized.

حتى الشامبو كان منظره مشوق !! انها جريمة بحق ذاتها أن تذهب الى مركز سلطان وانت في رمضان … لوهلة أعتقدت أنني سأفطر هناك

Even the shampoo looked interesting!! It's a crime to go to Sultan Center in Ramadan. For a while I thought I would break my fast there.

Anafilibini also talks about what she likes in Ramadan in Kuwait and lists a couple of points.

Some of The Things I Love About Ramadan In Kuwait:
1. The scene of people giving away food and money from their cars to less fortunate people on the streets.
2. 2 hour less working time..

Intlxpatr also writes about breaking the code and finding the right time to shop in Ramadan.

Finally, this morning, I was able to do some shopping. We are talking desperate, here, no eggs left in the house, no onions and we are getting low on milk.
I shopped on Thursday, the first day of Ramadan, with no problems. Since then, I have tried to shop Friday after church, and Saturday around two in the afternoon - both times, just the crunch in the parking lot convinced me not to even venture into the store. This was true both at the Sultan Center and at the co-op.

And last but not least, Qais, over at io81, talks about how a shop redefined Konafa (type of Arabic delicacy).

i started thinking about how such a simple arabic sweet become advertised on satellite TV. Why did other Konafa places did not come up with the same idea, how come a product like Konafa generate such hype?