A different kind of experience

Dubai: As millions of Muslims around the world are observing their obligatory fast during Ramadan, a 21-year-old Christian woman from Syria, volunteered to fast and share her experience for a day.

Julian Joseph, or Julie as she is more popularly known as, is a freelance graphic designer who graduated in 2009 from SAE Institute of Dubai.

She said that she took up the challenge to fast so she could "feel what it is like to fast during the summer and what it is like for those poor people in Africa who don't have anything to drink and eat in this kind of weather".

When asked to describe her experience in a few words, Julie said "Awesome, exhausting …a different kind of challenge."

Julie usually starts her day at around eight in the morning to get ready for work, but on the day of her fast she woke up at four in the morning for Suhour (last meal before the fast starts at dusk). She said she only drank a small bottle of water and went back to sleep. She did not have any food as she said she would get thirsty during the day if she did.

She first felt thirsty half way through the workday. She added that she felt "more active, like I can do more activities than usual". She said that she had a headache, but as she was very busy with work she did not think about the time or how hungry she was and couldn't believe that it was 1:00pm already.

About an hour later she reported that she started to think about food and imagining "proper meals with dessert".

After leaving work at around 3:30pm, Julie arrived at the Dubai Mall where she had decided to spend her time until it was time for Iftar. If it had been any other day, she would have gone home, had lunch, slept and then went to the gym, as she said she usually does. But instead she said she wanted to pass her time by "getting busy, maybe ice-skate or watch a movie and window shop".

She did some window shopping for some time and then headed to the cinema as she exclaimed: "I need to stop walking so I won't dehydrate."

On the way she encountered many candy stalls, which she said intensified her sugar and chocolate craving, which she said was what she kept craving for the most during her fast.

Without popcorn

The movie started at 4:15pm. "Who goes to the cinema without popcorn?" she asked as she passed the snack counter. Shortly after the movie ended at 6:30pm, she was seated at the restaurant she chose to have Iftar at.

"I can't stop looking at the menu … I think everything is delicious and don't know what to choose," she said. "This is the first time it takes me so long to order in a restaurant"

A while after she picked and ordered the food, she decided that the burger on the menu looked more delicious and wanted to change her order to that, but the waiter informed her that it was too late and that there were only a few minutes left till Iftar.

It was 7:05pm, it was time for Iftar. Julie ended her fast, the traditional way, with a date and a glass of water.

"I can feel the water going from my throat to my stomach", she said and proceeded to eat her meal.

After she finished eating and was snacking on some leftover fries, she said that she was so full and did not knew why she was still eating. "I can't think of anything but sleep now," she added.

When asked if she would go through the experience again, she laughed and said " Maybe, I will have to give it some thought, but I might do it again if I am in the mood."

A number of Julie's friends kept messaging her throughout the day to check on how she was holding up.

Sara Armoul, one of Julie's close friends, said that at first she did not think Julie would make it till Iftar, "but then she put her mind to it and actually fasted! I'm proud of her".

Julie's tips for people who would like to try to fast are: "Go for it; busy yourself with activities or sleep and think of the less fortunate people more than yourself."

She added that they should drink a lot of water at Suhour and try not to eat too much as well as avoid thinking about food and hunger. "Finally be patient," she concluded.

Apart from how hungry she was, Julie said that the thought of fasting construction workers and how they work in this heat crossed her mind multiple times.

The hardest time she had during the experience was when she was looking at the menu and couldn't choose and those last minutes where it seemed that time was not going fast enough.