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Reading it bought back happy memories. I grew up in Saudi Arabia during the early 70's and remember Ramadan, I remember a chap singing from a tower next to our house, I guess it must have been at sundown, I think I remember the firing of a cannon to signify the end of the days fast or maybe that was for something else. We had a flat roofed villa and me and my sister used to go up there and imitate this chaps singing, he always used to wave to us after he'd finished, I seem to remember him being a bit portly and wrapped in white with one of those head scarves that is held on by a black sort of headband thing.
: )
My dad ran a research station in Jedda on the Red Sea, I have amazing memories of it, I love all things Arabian and desert(ish) my all time favourite film ever is Lawrence of Arabia : ) I have the book Seven Pillars of Wisdom and a biography of him in my toilet, I've been trying to read them for about five years but they are just so heavy going. Best scene ever in a film is when Omar Sharife first appears from out of the distance, that and the scene in Le Grand Bleu when Rosanna Arquette first sees Jean marc barr walk past her in slow motion after getting out of the water, that's cool too :)
But anyway, less about me, apart from this picture of me in Saudi holding a sword fishes nose. I am of course a lot better looking than that, now, and in fact often have to beat them off with a stick, hordes of women that is, not sword fish.
Ahhh a mini Bubblegum!
I have to admit I have never seen Lawrence of Arabia, keep hoping to catch it on a Bank Holiday showing. My favourite film is Rear Window with James Stewart and Grace Kelly :-)
I think it is amazing to have those memories from childhood 
That's a brilliant photograph!
My Mum loved Lawrence of Arabia - or could it have been Omar...
Mmmm my mum loved Omar too!
I have just spoken to our Ramadan article writer, who says that she doesn't know of any canon fire at the end of each day, although it might have been at the end of the whole of Ramadan, however we did wonder whether different countries and cultures or even just different towns had slightly different customs!
Have you been back to Saudi? Would you go?
I haven't been back but I would go : ) Don't think you can go there as a tourist though except as a Muslim to visit Mecca.
I might not be allowed back, my dad was put in jail and me and my mum and sister had to live on the British embassy as persona non grata, till we could afford the flight back, he built a distillery in our back garden, not the done thing. my mum always tells the story of how she sent him to buy a second hand fridge from some Americans and came back with a distillery and started producing Sadiki (name & spelling) don't know what it was but it was clear and my dad and all his friends used to drink it, it was the name of our dog too.
Another memory is King Faisal waving to me, me and my dad were walking along the road in the middle of nowhere and he went past with all his armed Jeeps, I waved and he smiled and waved back. He was assassinated by his nephew a couple of years latter.
Have you seen Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran it has Omar Sharif in it and is good.
WOW I did not know you had grown up in Saudi, Bubblegum
I keep thinking of all those poor people in Pakistan, not only the awful situation they are in with the floods but those that are Muslims not able to observe one of their main religious customs.