Ramadan is like a snowflake

View from my apartment, 37th floor. I can hear the call to prayer from neighboring mosques.

Ramadan begins at a different time every year, based on the Islamic calendar and the sighting of the crescent moon. If the UAE Moon Sighting Committee does not see the Ramadan crescent at 9:00pm (in 1.5 hours) then Ramadan will not begin until Thursday. Yet this is unique for people all over the world, for example if Alaska or California sees a crescent by the time the sun sets over there 12 hours or so from now, they could start Ramadan before the Arabian peninsula.

So, we will wait and see. The big difference for me, since I am a government employee, is that I would have a slightly shorter work day Wednesday, in addition to the rest of the holy month. Many people are observing fasting during the day, not eating, drinking, smoking or anything, until the sun sets. So a shorter work day is to help people with that and have time to take extra care in their prayers. I'm learning a lot about things that are new to me, this is another interesting hands on learning experience!

Update: no moon is visible in the sky over the UAE tonight, so Ramadan here will begin on Thursday. 

Ramadan Mubarek! Blessed Ramadan.