17One evening during Ramadan, just before the middle of the month, the family gathered at Grandmother’s house for a special meal that comes between the iftar at sunset and the suhour before dawn. They called it the ghabqa. I was in my room with Inang Choleng. From behind the curtain over the window I could see the kids in the courtyard – the children of Awatif and Nouriya. In the meantime everyone else was inside – Awatif and her husband Ahmad, Nouriya and her husband Faisal, Hind, Khawla, Grandmother and her older grandchildren. The doorbell rang every now and then. Lots of children gathered at the door, wearing special clothes. The boys were wearing traditional white thobes with sleeveless jackets; some had skullcaps on while others wore the same white headdress as the men. The girls wer
