Ramadan Begins.

Today was the first day of Ramadam which is called Ramazan here in Turkey. It begins Thursday evening after sunset. Which means that from sunrise to sunset for the next month, Muslims who observe Ramadan won't eat, drink, or smoke from official sunrise to official sunset.

We didn't really see a big difference as we move from one city to the next almost everyday. But Orhan, our tour guide, said that the traffic coming into Konya was much lighter. Also, there were fewer people out and about.

Ramadan during a summer like this with the heat has to be much more difficult than later in the coolness of fall. Ramadan follows the lunar calendar so the placement of it during the year falls at different times each month.

Our hotel offers Sahur two hours before sunrise. I am not familiar with this term but from what I can gather this us meal prepared and eaten before sunrise so you have something to go on until sunset. You can request it delivered through room service at 3 am.

When I was here the first time, Ramadan fell somewhere in March of April. I was in a home stay at the time and remember waking up to the beating of a drum. On the 15th floor of a high rise in Istanbul. That was done on the streets below waking the women of the house to begin preparing the Sahur. It was a service the city provided....that makes sense in a nation that us 98 percent Muslim.

I don't know that I could show such devotion. I don't know that I would want that obligation.