Imagine being awakened in your warm bed at 3:30 a.m. to the incessant pounding of drums and knowing that this is what you will hear for an entire month. For many Muslim believers in Turkey, there is a tradition of hearing the Ramazan davulcusu', the drummers who alert people that it is time for the predawn meal during Ramazan by playing his drum in the streets. Despite setting off car alarms and disturbing many people who do not eat the predawn meal, the drum is a symbol of Ramazan for numerous residents across the Middle East: It tells them the holy month for Muslims is here.
Restaurants are less busy at lunch, and even Turkish tea is relegated to the back burner. The smoke-free air of the coffeehouses reveals they are still full of men, even if the teaspoons have gone silently pious. Some eateries may cover their windows with curtains so as not to distract those fasting by the sight of others eating, and most street vendors close up shop from dawn to dusk.
If at all possible, avoid traveling one hour before sunset, and never try to obtain a cab for at least one hour afterwards. If you are on the street during the hour before sunset, you become a mere obstacle between a fasting Muslim and a meal at home. Traffic is unbearable from 6-7 p.m. every day as people try to get home to break their fast, and if pedestrians weren’t already at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to the right-of-way in the streets, you have suddenly become the greatest scum on earth simply by walking out into the road while cars wait at a red light beside you – if they wait that is. Traffic laws here seem to be mere suggestions, not actual rules to obey, and during Ramazan these “suggestions” are almost laughable and followed less than half the time.
The fast is broken with a massive dinner after sunset prayers called Iftar. The best description I have of Iftar is Thanksgiving..... times 30. Iftars usually start with some soup and dates, followed by enough food to feed an army thrice over. However, unofficially the fast seems to be always broken with a cigarette. Iftars the first few nights of Ramazan are usually spent with families. However, since there are 30 to go through, the latter part of the month is usually shared with friends. They usually last until 9:00 or 10:00PM, after which many people go out on the town to one of the many festivities in Istanbul. It is not uncommon for people to stay out until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, only to come back and eat one more time before sunrise prayers.
Ramazn decorations are around just about every corner in Turkey. In lieu of the Christmas window candles are lights in the shape of the crescent moon and star, the symbol of Islam. Christmas carols on the radio are replaced with beautiful recitations of the Quran. TV commercials wish everyone a Ramazan Mubarak or Hoş Geldiniz Ramazan, and are complete with the night background. There are even TV series that are played only during Ramazan (and much more entertaining to me than Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer or Frosty the Snowman, I must admit). While they are not that religious in nature the ones I have watched, they most certainly add to the festive mood around Turkey.
Finally, piety during Ramazan is unparalleled. Much like Easter, everyone attends the mosque more often than normal. Calls to prayer are more eloquent and everyone seems to be in a great, albeit exhausted, mood. During the final 10 days of Ramazan, the time in which the first part of the Quran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammed, the mosques will recite the Quran over the loudspeakers from sunset until sunrise. As a result, please don't be alarmed if a future posting seems overly cranky and hostile, especially towards the 4 mosques around the corner from my room.
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