Ramazan

We're fast approaching the beginning of one of the most important observances in Islam and Muslim culture: the holy month of Ramazan.

If you aren't familiar with this, Ramazan is a month in the traditional Islamic lunar calendar during which Muslims are require to observe a period of fasting. Every day during the thirty days of Ramazan, no food or water can be consumed from sunrise to sunset. This ritual is meant to discipline the soul, to leave more time for prayer and charity, and to bring believers closer to God. The end of Ramazan is marked with a huge celebration, the Islamic equivalent of Christmas, where families gather together, take time off of work, and eat lots of delicious food. This year Ramazan begins on August 1.

The weeks leading up to Ramazan have been interesting for me here in Turkey, and surprising in a number of ways. For one thing, it seems that even people who aren't very religious like to observe this fast. It's a good thing to do, my friends tell me. It's good for your health, to purify your digestive system. And plus it's good for weight loss, the women add.

Even as a Christian who probably won't observe this fast, I'll have to make a few adjustments in my schedule for the next month. My evening class, for instance, runs from 7:20-9:10 pm. The sun has been setting around 8:30 recently so that means the first hour of my lesson will be full of hungry, tired people whose minds will be so focused on making it through the last hour of the fast that they won't absorb much English, and the second hour will interrupt their much-longed-for dinner time. We're planning to give a longer break in the middle of the lesson so that people can get some food before resuming their English studies.

Also my social life will be a little less interesting, as meeting friends or coffee or dinner is a no-go for the next month. Between this and the rumors of drummers who drive down the street at dawn every day alerting everyone that it's time to stop eating, I can't say that I'm really looking forward to Ramazan. I will, however, be very curious to see what it's like to be in a Muslim country during this time.

More to come on this subject, for sure.