Saudi students studying abroad yearn to spend Ramadan at home in the comfort of family members and warm cooked meals.
Now that they live alone in non-Muslim countries, Saudi students find themselves bonding with one another during this holy month, sharing their favorite meals and breaking fast together.
“People living back home have it easy; they have less working hours during Ramadan and have people who prepare iftar for them and to top it all off, they break their fast earlier than us,” said Boston MBA student Maysaa Mamoun.
“Things are more difficult for us Saudis in the United States, as we have to work and study, cook for ourselves and fast longer hours,” she added.
Saudi students get together to prepare different meals and eat iftar with one another.
“Eating alone is not fun especially during Ramadan. This has prompted us to come together and cook for each other every Ramadan,” said Meshaal Al-Ali, a marketing student in Tampa.
“We put our cooking skills to trial, inventing dishes along the way or we search for recipes on the Internet. What makes the experience more enjoyable is the fact that we come from different parts of the Kingdom, so we get to taste different Ramadan dishes,” he added.
This Ramadan is different for medical student Mahmoud Attas, who lives in Vancouver as he is spending Ramadan alone for the first time.
“I took a summer course, while all my friends traveled back home to spend Ramadan with their families and I’m stuck here to fasting long hours and have iftar alone,” he said. “I know I will be eating junk food because I don’t have time to prepare meals and it is not worth it for me to cook for myself. I will also most likely end up spending most of my time at home so I don’t get hungry seeing everyone else eating during the day,” he added.
Students in London will be fasting 19 hours this Ramadan and look forward to breaking their fast in Arabic neighborhoods, according to Samia Nassar, a banking student in London.
“I’m excited to break my fast at an Arabic restaurant that offers open buffets and menus filled with delicious dishes that remind me of home,” she said.
“I find it funny that we were raised in Saudi Arabia and took Ramadan as an excuse to sleep all day, skip school and not work properly. Here, I learned that life goes on and I actually focus better on my studies when I’m fasting,” she added.
Saudi scholarship students studying abroad find Ramadan ‘tasteless’
