Holiday spirit

One of the things that I like about Ramadan is that -- to balance out the craziness and testy attitudes that begin to emerge late in the afternoon (not to mention some dangerously fast driving that left my heart in my throat yesterday) -- there is also a festive and generous spirit much like what we experience during our own holiday season. Case in point: the hotel that is my home away from home in Rich has been offering a charity lfdur every evening, alowing those in need to come and break their fast for free. Sometimes the volunteers staying in the hotel will join them, and sometimes we go elsewhere, but yesterday, it really gave me a good feeling when I stumbled into the hotel right at sundown, after an afternoon of traveling, and had a couple of guys who work there (who hadn't yet broken their own fasts) insist that I sit down in a comfortable spot and have some soup, coffee and dates...