November 1, 2005
Since we arrived in Kurdistan a week ago, eating--and not eating--has been a major theme. In the Islamic world, it is currently Ramadan, the month of fasting that commemorates the revelation of the Quran to the Prophet Mohammed. Traditionally, people get up before dawn to eat and then they neither eat nor drink until the sun sets again. This evening we waited until after 11pm for news of the sighting of the moon (which ends the month of Ramadan). Just now, I received a text message from one of my friends telling me that the fast will be extended by one day--as the moon was not yet sighted.The observance of Ramadan (and in particular, fasting) is a bit of a patchwork experience in both Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan. In Turkey, many restaurants remained open during the day, at least in the bigger, more western cities we were in. In addition, certain categories of people have exemptions from fasting, such as children, old people, and travelers. At any rate, there were certainly a good number of Turks eating in restaurants during the day.
The Islamic calendar is based on the lunar calendar which means that the month of Ramadan moves from year to year. Fasting is more difficult when Ramadan falls in the hot summer months, when the hours of daylight are longer and the weather is so brutally hot.Here in Kurdistan, all restaurants are closed during the day during Ramadan (except those in Christian neighborhoods). Nonetheless, fasting remains a very personal/individual decision, and I have been surprised to learn which of my friends fast and which do not. In any case, around 4:30pm or so, there is a mad rush to get home for sunset (around 5:10pm by now), to break the fast with a big family dinner.
Over the past four nights, we have been invited to "break the fast" with four different families. Meals traditionally include rice, bulgur, Kurdish flat bread (see picture), tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onions, fresh herbs, lamb, chicken, dolma (vegetables stuffed with rice and meat), lentil stew--or some combination thereof. Some families eat on the floor in their living rooms, some eat at tables. Some families eat together and others have men in one room and women in another. At one family's house, I chose to join the women for dinner although I was welcome to eat with the men. It was only after we left that Frank learned that there were 10 women in the house. Over the course of 4 hours, Frank had only seen one. Most Kurdish families, however, are not so shy between men and women. At another friend's house, our dessert was a cake (see picture) which had just arrived from Baghdad with her mother. I just kept looking at that cake and wondering how it made it all the way to Kurdistan in such good shape...
So, one more day of fasting and then the three day holiday of Aed-al-Fatr begins--a time for visiting friends and family--and for eating sweets and drinking more tea--To learn more about Ramadan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan
