New Orleans should urge Muslim visitors to "loosen up and skip the veil during Mardi Gras?" "Those who refrain from drinking spirits and showing off your woman's breasts are being culturally insensitive."
When I lived in Indonesia, I had one really funny Ramadan experience when my less-than-devout Muslim friend went drinking with me. We came home about 4:00 a.m. which was coincidentally about the time that the mosque loudspeakers announce "Sayur" telling people to get in their last food before they must begin fasting again. So we helped out driving on our motorcycle through the rice fields yelling "Sayur! Sayur!"
Just as Muslims make excellent designated drivers, we drinkers can in turn assist the devout during Ramadan.
Though, I don't get why we can't eat food in front of them while they fast...its supposed to be a test of their faith, so why shouldn't they welcome the added difficulty level? "Hey, I can fast even if you are eating fresh baked cookies in front of me."
p.s. Another weird thing about Ramadan in Indonesia was going into a restaurant at lunch and realizing that the owner and all of the customers were probably Christian. You felt like you were part of some special club.
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