Ramadan Nights to Days

So...Melissa and I have had the chance this past week to experience both sides of Ramadan. We had an Iftar meal with one of our friend's families and I cannot even tell you what a spread of food it was. They are a very devout family, and though I doubt they eat that particular meal every night during Ramadan, their entire family does fast and break the fast together each evening. There were so many courses.All the food was of course delicious. I have yet to taste anything that her mother has made that I dislike--and there are a few dishes that, well...aren't my favorite. After the meal, we piled into the family car. I am already acquainted with the whole family from previous teas and my friend's brother was in one of my English classes this summer! We headed to a local park for a Ramazan festival. Now, there are two things lately that I have been missing--you can be assured I miss everything--but these two things I got to have in one form or another here! I miss rain. I love a good rainy day and it rained yesterday for half an hour. I can't remember the last time it rained. It may have been in April. It just doesn't rain here in the summer...at all, literally, period. AND...I miss the fair. If you know me at all, then you will know that I love the fair! I know, it's trashy sometimes and too crowded and the rides are shaky and the food is greasy...BUT I love every minute of it. And this particular Ramadan festival included homemade craft booths and even had a Ferris wheel. I did not get to partake of the Ferris wheel, I believe those activities were only intended for children, but it made me feel like I was at home! After the Ramadan festival, we went for ice cream and then like we were in school again, our friend's dad dropped us off before he took the rest of the family home.

So, that is one side of Ramazan...there is another. This last weekend, our Turkish tutor came over for dinner and a movie and a game of Okey. Early evening and mid-game, her family calls and asks her to come home this weekend. She lives about an hour and a half away from our city, but stays with her aunt and uncle during the week and sometimes on the weekend so she can work. Well...she invited us to go along. Basically she said, 'how about we go to Mersin tonight?' Melissa and I are spontaneous--but usually not that much--so we said, 'well...we have to take the trash out at about 8, but that was the extent of our plans...so, okay!'. Within 30 minutes, we had packed our purses for the night and were on a bus headed to the train station. We road the train to Mersin and made it in time for her family's and now my favorite Turkish soap opera. I have got to get cable before Friday night at 8 o'clock in time for my new favorite show...it's good Turkish practice. Melissa and I set our alarms in order to be a part of the whole Ramadan experience for 3:30 a.m. and woke up and had sahur with her family. Sahur is the morning meal that everyone eats before the sun comes up since they fast during the day. If I thought the drums were loud at my house to wake the neighbors up for this pre-fasting meal, it was like a marching band at her house. We could not have slept through sahur if we had wanted to. I think what we ate was smaller than usual, but this is generally what Turkish breakfast consists of.