Chronic Wander Lust: Ramadan

The last week of September was Ramazan Bayram - the celebration at the end of the month-long Ramadan. And it is a hard earned celebration; for practicing Muslims, it marks the end of the month-long, sunrise to sunset fast. During Ramadan, nothing can be consumed between sunrise and sunset so Muslims eat 2 large meals a day - one in the evening after sunset, called Iftar, and one in the morning before sunrise. As Ramadan is a floating holiday, it moves backwards through the months of year meaning, as it gets further and further from the winter months, the days of Ramadan get longer and longer.

In Istanbul, observing Ramadan is not as big of a deal as it is elsewhere in Turkey, or the rest of the Muslim world. Istanbul is very secular so restaruants and grocery stores were open during the day (though going to the grocery store at 5:oopm was to be avoided. Best leave that time to Istanbulites - seeminly every single one of them - shopping for the Iftar meal). As you can imagine, going 17 hours without food or water (the more devout Muslims don't even swallow their own spit) makes people rather cranky. Traffic was worse than usual (which is saying a lot) and tensions were high.

But Ramazan Bayram also meant an entire week off from work and provided the perfect opportunity for visitors. Jason came in from Oslo and we spent the week being tourists (strolling with the rest of Istanbul down Istikal Street) and being lazy.

Busy Istikal Street

We did make it to the Salvador Dali exhibit that is here in Istanbul through January 2009. Hosted by the Sabanci Art Museum, it is an extensive collection and follows his career from early works to working with Walt Disney to his return to the classics. Not only was the exhibit itself beautiful, but the grounds of the Sabanci Museum are stunning! The Sabancis are a power-house family in Turkey and the museum sits on the grounds of the old family mansion on the shore of the Bosphorus. There is also an incredible cafe on the muesum grounds that serves dishes like fried zucchini flowers stuffed with goat cheese and pine nuts and ginger and jasmine iced tea. Delicious!

We also spent a delightful afternoon wandering through Gulhane (Rose) Park, taking pictures and meandering through the various walk-ways. It was here we stumbled upon a tea garden with the most incredible view of the Bosphorus! So we stopped and warmed up with some strong turkish tea.

Saturday was a night of photography - an art studio down in Sultanahmeht is showcasing 3 photographers with ties to the Consulate. Several of us headed down to show our support and see some incredible photographs.

Kishor, Karen, and Jonathan enjoying at night of photography