Ramadan

So I want to try to do a couple of short posts. We will see how long I can stay on the computer here at the youth hostel before someone else bumps me.

It is Ramadan here, a month where Muslims fast from sun up to sun down. Ramadan is the month where Muslim's believe that the Koran was revealed to Prophet Mohammad and it is a time for reflection on being a better person, and avoiding excesses. In Turkey, a country with many secular Muslims, people still fast or else do some other action to think about issues that are on their mind. One of the shop keepers gave up alcohol (which of course observant Muslims would not drink anyway) for Ramadan and other people make an effort to volunteer or do things like that.

Ramadan is also a time for partying after sundown. Throngs and throngs of people come out after sundown and stroll the streets and go to the parks to have picnics, buy street food or listen to music. There were whirling dervishes dressed in all white doing their endless spinning thing and so many types of food and drink. I will try to post a short video clip or two, but it is great, like an amusement park every night.

(Photos are a crowded street in Istanbul and 10, count them, 10 people in a car trying to get somewhere before sundown (number 10 is in the trunk)