Sneaking Food and Drink During Ramadan; 2 Years strong!

Drinking in Dressing Rooms

I would say for the most part that I'm pretty culturally sensitive.  I try to dress appropriately for my surroundings, try to understand others viewpoints and beliefs and so on.  And even though I don't fast during Ramadan, I try not to eat and drink in public before the fast breaks, which is around 7:30 these days. I've slipped up a couple times because I completely forgot, but for the most part, I'm pretty good. 

Did I mention how hot it has been lately?  In the US it wouldn't be that bad beause there is air conditioning almost everywhere.  Not in Jordan.  We are lucky to have 2 fans in the apartment.  My friends and I decided it would be a good idea to go to a mall for part of the day.  Why?  Simple.  There's air conditioning and cafe's where you can actually get a cold drink and enjoy it before 7:30.  Well, that's what we thought.  

The cafe's weren't serving drinks.  Bugger.  I bought a delicous cookie, that was just begging to be eaten right then and there but these hopes were quickly dashed when the man behind the counter said, "that's to go, right?"  In other words, yes, you can buy this cookie, but if you eat in front of me or anyone else, you will be sucker punched.  Dangit.  The mall, as we found out, is not a safe zone.  

We are some pretty savvy ladies so we quickly came up with a plan.  A) Find a clothing store with big dressing rooms.  B) Grab some clothes and pretend to try them on.  C)  Get out can of coffee and cookie in dressing room and quickly stuff our faces before anyone suspects us of rogue consumption before hours. 

As you can see in the above picture, our plan worked out fine.  We shared water, Getchen had her chocolate croissant, Lena and I had our coffee in a can (bought from a Whole Foods loke market) and I had my cookie.  In the end, everybody wins.  We were happy and nobody was offended.  No crumbs or spills were left behind.

Who says you can't find ways to enterain yourself during Ramadan?