For the past several months I have been working for the City of Cambridge as a Career Advisor at the Community Learning Center. The CLC is a free public school for adults, where they can learn English, study for the high school equivalency test, and more. As a city employee, I hear about cool news and events that I probably would miss otherwise.

For example, every year during Ramadan, a holy month in the Islamic calendar when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, the City of Cambridge holds a community iftar at City Hall. I had never heard of iftar before, but apparently there would be dinner for Muslims to break their fast, and non-Muslims were invited, too. A free event where I could eat delicious food, learn about another culture, participate in my community, and meet new people? Count me in!

I roped in a friend and met her at City Hall on a warm Tuesday evening in June. We were shepherded into a high-ceilinged room that was laid out like a courtroom but with a mezzanine.

We sat down and struck up a conversation with the young man sitting next to us. Normally he went to iftar at MIT, where he was doing his PhD, but he had heard about the community iftar at City Hall and decided to check it out. We had never attended an iftar before, we explained, and were excited to discover this event.

“You should come to MIT iftar!” he said. “I’m one of the organizers. We have iftar every day. It’s very popular because it’s basically free food.”

“Oh… Is it for everyone?” I asked uncertainly, wondering whether I should mention that I am not Muslim.

“Yes!” interjected an older woman sitting in front of us. “Everyone is welcome at iftar! You can walk into any mosque and participate. You don’t have to be Muslim.”

The room gradually filled with people as the sun set. Most came in groups of family or friends, and most of them were Muslims from different countries; our new friend was from Tajikistan, while the older woman was from Pakistan. Children chattered and babies babbled as City Councillor Sumbul Siddiqui (herself a Pakistani-American Muslim) introduced the guest speakers, including Mayor Marc McGovern, the Harvard chaplain, and a 98-year-old imam from the Islamic Society of Boston, who was energetic and clearly beloved but equally unintelligible.

Finally the speeches were over, and dinner was served in the hall. Most of the non-Muslims went to queue while the Muslims gathered to pray. The men removed their shoes and lined up in rows; the women disappeared. I hesitated, not sure whether I should leave, being neither a Muslim nor a man, but also wanting to stay and observe. Just then my new friend appeared out of nowhere. “You can go get food now, or you can stay and watch if you like,” he smiled.

So I sat and watched the men as they kneeled and bowed and called and responded, or occasionally tugged down a stray shirt hem to cover an exposed lower back. I felt frustrated about the apparent imbalances and segregation between the men and women, but I held my peace and tried to pay attention. In the mass of undulating bodies the men became homogenized, such that I couldn’t find my new friend among them, even though I tried.

Then the praying was done, and the three of us got food. We ate on the stairs among other 20-somethings and made small talk. But our new friend was the only person who showed an abiding interest in my friend and me. After a long, leisurely meal and conversation, we exchanged numbers with him and promised to go to MIT iftar.

It was definitely a worthwhile event. Everyone was friendly and welcoming, and I felt a sense of community and neighborliness. However, I had expected more non-Muslims to turn out, so I was disappointed to see relatively few of us. I was also a little sad that most of the Muslims seemed lukewarm toward my friend and me: polite and amiable, but evidently more interested in networking with fellow Muslims than with us. I suppose that’s typical human behavior, though, and was pretty predictable.

In any case, I had a lot of fun! I experienced something new and learned about Ramadan. I’m grateful to the City of Cambridge for hosting iftar every year, and I highly recommend iftar to anyone who wants to learn more about Ramadan or meet new people.

Best of all, I made a new friend! And the next week I went to MIT iftar three times.