In Dubai now on business and bumping into all sorts of signs as to how businesses accommodate/respect the requirements of Ramadan, which always surprises me by arriving earlier each year (nature of the difference in calendars). Good example (quoting the letter from my hotel in my room) is "restaurants within the hotel will have separate sections or closed curtains as a sign of respect to our Muslim guest and no alcohol will be served during fasting hours."

As an American Catholic, about the only thing you can compare it to in length and observation is Lent, which, when I was growing up, was quite different from the rest of the year but whose differences are now more muted. One hears the same from Muslims about Ramadan in general around the world, but clearly that varies by place and UAE is pretty close to ground central on the subject--certainly in geographic terms.

I feel like I've passed through the Middle East/PG before during Ramadan, but since I'm usually moving so fast, I tend not to notice as much. This trip doesn't feature the constant blur-shifting I am usually subjected to, so I'm allowed more observation--so to speak