Ramadan

began this last Tuesday. about 1/3 of my students, and about 85% of the country are celebrating the holy month by fasting while the sun is up. they get up before the sun, have a big breakfast, then abstain from food or any liquid all day until about 6:20 or sundown. then there is the iftar dinner celebration with family and friends eating together and lots of sweet and fried iftar foods. there is much giving to the poor during this month of Ramadan; the poor go to mosques for food donations at dinner time. my kids at school seem accustomed to Ramadan practices, and proud to be a part. especially during Ramadan the streets get progressively busy and pushy until iftar (breaking fast) time as people are trying to get home at the same time. and then the streets clear out entirely (unheard of in Dhaka) when feasting begins. it has been interesting to watch the moon at the start of Ramadan this week; it is an eerie crescent that looks like the kind that decorates the tops of mosque minarets.