And So It Ends.

Today is the first day of the Ramazan holiday which follows the month of fasting. The fast lasted for about the past month and today the world I live in is resuming it's normalcy (even though, really, it changed this past month alot less than I thought it would). My teacher I think probably fasted as many days as I can count on my hands. Many are strict, but many fall at various levels in between. The next three days are called Ramazan Holiday and the Sugar Holiday. They prefer you to say the prior name. We have bought sugar candy and cologne in hopes that our neighbors will come over. Neighbors visit and you offer them sugar candy and cologne as they eat it and then a sweet something with more sustenance and Turkish coffee. We have not yet learned to make Turkish coffee, so we will be serving Coke. I've heard that children will ring our door and extend their hands waiting for us to fill them with candy. Only one had done so thus far, but we gave him two pieces of candy, so maybe he'll spread the word for the other children to come to our door. Lots of people have left to go spend the weekend with their families. Melissa and I are heading out to explore our fine city on this day and see how much it is changed on this holiday. We may be returning very shortly if nothing is open...but I have a sneaking suspicion that Burger King will be open and I'm very persuasive, so maybe we'll make a stop. (smile)....Okay,
well I have let this post sit all day and now it's time for bed. But, we did make it to Burger King and it was open, but that was about it! Today was kind of a bizarre day. It was a major holiday that I didn't really participate in. It really was like Christmas or Thanksgiving Day in the States. There were fewer buses running (which calls for a bit more planning b/c we travel everywhere by public transportation), the people riding them were all families and they were all dressed up. We felt very under-dressed and un-holiday'ish in our jeans and shirts. Tomorrow we're going to visit a friends' family and we're going to dress accordingly. I am glad for the normalcy to return to every day life, but there has been a sense of more spiritual awareness this past month that I will be sad to see go, as I know it will. Maybe the conversations that I have begun with friends will linger. It's been nice to go deeper with friends and talk of things of the heart. As this holiday season ends, I never posted this video. So, this is a bit of dancing video from the Ramazan festival that Melissa and I went to with our friend. It's only a taste of what the night was like. There were so many dances and it was just so fun! I wish it could be longer, but it gives you a little glimpse of some traditional Turkish dance, from which part, I'm just not sure! But you can imagine what the night was like from this little window. Before you play it, scroll down to my music player on the right side of the blog and pause the song so you can get the full effect. It may take a few minutes to download, but it's only 15 seconds long--it's 15 seconds worth watching. And i guarantee that it will take you less time to download this video than it has taken me to download 18 emails in 7 hours today. I'm having Internet issues. But thanks to the world of technology, you too can visit the Ramazan festival, so I'll not complain further. Enjoy...and Bayraminiz kutlu olsun. Happy holidays.