Holiday! No, wait, on further review...

It's Sunday, and we're halfway through a three-day weekend. Or not. Let me explain.

The Holy Month of Ramadan ended sometime this weekend. Islam follows a lunar calendar (which is why the dates of Muslim holidays change from year to year). Thus, the ending date of Ramadan is guided by the moon, and the high officials must make some observation to make it official. I know, I know, the behavior of the moon is completely predictable, but officially someone has to make the call. And that's our confusion.

We've known all year that Ramadan closes this weekend, but it hasn't been clear if or when the president of Cameroon would declare a holiday to mark Eid-al-Fitr. Complicating things, he left the country last weekend without a proclamation, so we went home Friday thinking we probably wouldn't work on Monday, in honor of the feasting and celebration by all the observant who can make up for a month of fasting. And Saturday, we assumed. And Sunday ... and by about 4 in the afternoon, we realized we'd never heard anything official. So... do we have work Monday?

Girl 1's school already declared Monday a holiday, which will just complicate child care if there's confusion about this. I called the repository of all knowledge at the Embassy - the Motor Pool drivers - to ask if they knew what was going on. They said the 5 o'clock news would tell all, but at 5:30 we were no wiser. The latest word was that the 7:00 o'clock newscast would set us straight.

It's hardly the season, but I'm losing faith and thinking the three-day weekend I'd expected will not come to pass. But, from a Western perspective, the worst part may be simply not knowing about something as secure and fixed as time, and not being able to depend on it.