I have to add a little prologue to this blog: this year was the best Ramadan ever. There were enough eating places open during the day – hidden behind partitions and covered windows – to make the month a thoroughly palatable experience for those of us not fasting.

Our class iftar: A highlight of the month

At work, we couldn’t eat or drink at our desks, but this was more than made up for by the shorter hours – two hours cut from the work day, even for non-Muslims. All over the city, there were some fabulous Iftars – the meal eaten after sunset, with dates first to break the fast, then lentil soup followed by exotic and flavoursome hot and cold mezze, from beetroot hummus to slow-roasted lamb in yogurt, biriyani and tabbouleh. We partook in several iftars and I can still conjure up the lavish, Middle Eastern tastes and smells as I write this post.

It also felt like the community came together in a way you don’t see so much the rest of the year – with Ramadan ‘sharing fridges’ that were filled and restocked by Dubai residents with juices, fruit, Laban and all sorts of other food items to serve the less fortunate workers and labourers; as well as various charity initiatives and donation drives. It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

As Ramadan drew to a close, the conversation at work inevitably turned to whether the office would be shut for Eid. It depends on the moon – so hard to plan (c’mon moon!).

School, too, is shut now for 4 days, Thursday to Sunday, although I should add this hasn’t gone down quite so well with all the mums. The kids had only just gone back after a week off for half-term, and the two-month-long summer break is coming at us like a freight train, kicking off in just three short weeks. Did the kids, who’d been on reduced, 8-15am-1.15pm Ramadan hours anyway, really have to be off school yet again?!!!!

It even seemed they might get Monday off too, the jammy buggers! The KHDA, Dubai’s education authority, tweeted the following:

You can sleep late on Thursday and Sunday

Because school’s closed – it’s the #Eid holiday!

Have a great time however you choose

But remember to keep checking the news

To find out whether there’s school on Monday

And, with the pilot husband gone for the duration of Eid, I might have let out a really loud groan … followed by a sigh of relief when, after three days of will-there-or-won’t there be school on Monday discussions with my kids, it was declared that school would, after all, restart that day.

Thank you moon.