Ramadan Day 12 and 13

Today we broke our fasting. As we are leaving for camp, our bodies need to be well rested, and ready for the intense physical activity of running a summer youth camp. It felt weird to stop though, as my body still woke me up really early in the morning. I need to get back in the swing of sleeping through a whole night. I'm sure at camp I won't be sleeping restfully throughout the night, but it will be the result of catching campers trying sneak out... I'm great at catching them, and the first year even slept in the hallway to prevent the girls from leaving.

Yesterday was a great day for us. We had a house guest from Sheki come on Saturday night, and she stayed and did our breakfast with us at 430am like a trooper. We of course gave her the option to sleep in and opt out, but she was curious so she joined us. Farid's students finished up their final leadership project yesterday morning, and our friend and I cleaned the house in preparation for our site mate "hub day." Almost all of the site mates came this time, and we had a nice fruit buffet. Farid and I were very good, and didn't become too tempted to actually partake in eating. After our site mates left, we went in to the office to purchase our plane tickets to America! We are very excited, as we finally found tickets home, and now will be headed out of Azerbaijan with a final end date in site. In 51 days, I will be foot down on American soil. I will be home, and there not just for a vacation this time. It feels a bit bitter sweet. I'm excited that we will finish my service and then head back to Ganja, catch a flight to Naxchivan to stay with Farid's parents for two nights, then fly to Istanbul to see Farid's brothers for 2 nights, then a flight to Frankfurt, were we will layover for an entire day (this is the price you pay for cheap tickets) and then we will fly to Iceland for a short layover before landing in Seattle. For Farid, he will still have to go through secondary processing with his CR-1 visa (conditional resident visa) and he will be issued his temporary green card at the airport. The final green card will be mailed to our house withing 6-8 weeks. He will have to register for selective service, and we will then start the job search, and start applying to graduate schools. We are looking into several places, including Minnesota, Oregon, and Nevada. Right now, we just need time to adjust to life in the US again. I have been informed by Peace Corps at our Close of Service conference that I will be going through "Reverse Culture Shock" and won't always feel "at home" in the US now. I know there are a lot of things about Azerbaijan that I won't miss. However, there are a lot that I will miss too. After 3 years and 3 months away from home, it feels a bit strange to not know what comes next.

Ramadan Day 11

My own husband doesn't know what day of Ramadan it is. He's confused. He believes it's day 10. I think he's severely dehydrated and it's effecting his brain. I on the other hand know, that I'm now in day 11 of my Ramadan experience. Surprisingly, I'm doing well today. Last night was interesting, as we prepared dinner, then tackled the laundry. All that extra energy felt good enough to make me actually wash clothes.

Now, I should explain for those of you who don't live in Azerbaijan, that washing clothes here is a very time consuming, and energy using event. You see, we don't have a washing machine. Our washing machine is a large plastic bucket. So after heating water for a shower, we decided that we could wash clothes for camp. The actual washing for 2 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of khakis, and 4 shirts took about an hour. You have the soaping, rinsing, squeezing, rinsing, squeezing and about 5 more rinsing squeezing cycles. By the time you're done, your hands sometimes callous, and for beginners, sometimes crack from all the water and soap that dries out your hands. Then, comes the "easy" part. Hanging the clothes to dry. I'm sure you're wondering what is so difficult about this. For most volunteers, this really is the easy part. But for me, I have some sort of bad luck. I live on the third floor of an old soviet style block apartment building. We have a corridor out front of our door, and it has an open wall to hang our clothes on the line. It's like a balcony where everything is concrete. Usually, I don't hang my clothes on the line on the outside, because the neighbor above likes to throw her trash off the balcony. Meaning, our clothes get covered in garbage after being washed. This has happened twice before. Instead, I hang my clothes to dry on the rope between my neighbors water tank, and our water tank. This has been fine all summer. However, last night, after putting all that hard work into washing the clothes, hanging them out to dry, and finally climbing in to bed after 11pm... I heard the tell tale sound of a wet "thwack." In an instant, my heart sank. I knew that sound... it had happened only once before. The line broke. With dread, we got up, put on full clothes, opened the front door, and turned on the porch light. Sure enough, there were our freshly washed clothes, laying on the dirty floor of the corridor. It took a lot of patience not to scream and yell, and jump up and down like a 5 year old who is angry. Instead, we gathered up the clothes that had fallen on the ground, re-hung the others that were still dangling mid-air on the broken lines, and went inside to re-wash the clothes. We don't have very many clothes here, and Farid in particular only has a total of 4 pairs of pants. So when his khakis fell in the dirt, I was determined to get them clean again. We re-washed the items, and this time hung them to dry inside the bathroom. It was late by the time we crawled tired back into bed. It was a rough night, as the wind howled most of the night through our neighborhood, waking us up frequently between the early hours and the time we had to wake up. We even had to close the windows regardless of the sweltering heat, for fear the curtains would rip away from the rod on the wall.

430 came early, and I stumbled out of bed to light the gas to heat our tea-pot. It takes about 7 minutes for the water to boil. Everything else was ready, so all we had to do was wait. We lay down, and for a moment closed our eyes. I jolted awake 20 minutes later. It's a good thing that we had almost an hour between 430 and sunrise, or else we would have been extra hungry today. Most of the water had boiled out of the pot, and we both sleepily sat down to breakfast at the table. As soon as we were done, it was back to bed for our sleepy brains.

Then, at 815 we woke up for work... which we gave ourselves 15 minutes to get ready for. Can you tell how tired we must have been? After throwing on clothes, and brushing our hair, we left for work, checking on the clothes outside on the line. Immediately, Farid and I noticed "gaps" in the line. We both thought, "Oh no, our clothes had been whipped away down two stories into the trees and chicken yard below!" We spent a few minutes trying to see where they had landed... nothing from our floor could be seen. So we went down to the second, then the first, and finally to the ground floor to look around in the trees and garbage strewn field behind our building. We couldn't find them. I was so upset that I was devising plans to go to the bazar and buy Farid a new pair of pants. We had to go to work though, so we got on the bus. Half way to work, we remembered that those gaps in the line were not the khakis and shirts that had fallen in the dirt... we had re-hung those in the bathroom. I felt silly, and a bit embarrassed for looking around in the chicken yard behind our building. I believe we are truly tired today.

Ramadan Days 9 and 10

I decided to take the day off of work yesterday, so I will combine the blog for yesterday and today. Yesterday was perhaps one of the best days yet in my experience. Since I didn't have to get up at 730 to go to work, I was able to sleep in a little more. That helped my mood immensely, and put me in the right mindset for the day. I made time for light exercise, and good stretching. I've felt so tense lately from the lack of water and proper sleep, that the stretching was really invigorating for me. I had time to clear my mind, and to find peace inside myself. I then had enough energy to clean the house, and visit with two of my site mates for the better part of the afternoon. Since I've been smarter in my eating habits, I wasn't even hungry when they ate lunch. That was a real surprise for me. However, the smell of watermelon does make my stomach act up. It's a nostalgic food, and that just can't be helped.

Farid and I talked a bit last night about Ramadan. We know that we won't be able to fast the whole month, as we are leaving for summer camp next week, and women traditionally break when their body changes cycles. We will more than likely fast up until the day camp begins, then stop when camp actually starts. This summer camp has such an intense schedule that it would be unpractical and borderline dangerous to fast while doing so much physical activity. Not to mention that I can't sleep in when I'm directing a camp, nor can I go to bed early. Therefore, we will have an 11 day break in the middle of Ramadan. We will resume the fast when camp is over on the 3rd, and may add the days to the end of Ramadan depending on our travel schedule back to the states.

Some days are better than others. Some days are so hard that I feel very close to giving up. I am 100% sure that the reason I've made it this far is my husband. This whole experience was my idea, and the fact that he is fasting to help me through the process just makes it so much easier for me. Yes my husband is Muslim, but that is not the reason I'm doing this. I've been living in Azerbaijan for three years, and each year I made excuses to exempt myself from Ramadan. But in reality, I'm ashamed to admit I was scared. I was scared I wouldn't be able to do it. I was scared that it would mean people would think I was converting to Islam (as if this would be something terrible.) I was scared my family and friends might think strangely about me, or judge me for "going native." But I'm no longer scared. This year is my last chance. I don't know when I'll be back to Azerbaijan. It may be a very long time before I get the chance to spend Ramadan in a Muslim country again. Like spending December in a Christian country, Ramadan is a very special month. People are nicer to each other, people are more honest, there are more good deeds, and more love in the community. Part of the Peace Corps experience is to truly try to understand the culture, the life, and the people. Ramadan is a part of that experience that I have been missing.

Fasting is a real test of ones willpower to not be tempted when you are cooking for others, or for yourself. Have you ever tried to cook without tasting the food you are making after spending the previous 15 hours fasting? Guessing how much salt or seasoning something needs is an interesting experience. I also find that the parts that have been the biggest sacrifice for me were not what I had imagined... giving up water during the day, and waking up so early. Each day feels a little easier in some ways, and I still have moments where my stomach feels hungry. One of my students and I talked on Wednesday about the importance of fasting. She said that it's good for one to experience what it feels like to be hungry, to go without. It makes us more sympathetic to those who do not have the choice. Which prompted me to look up some information about hunger world wide.

As of today, no one really knows how many people in the world are malnourished. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization measures "under-nutrition" and estimates that as of October 14, 2009 more than 1.02 billion people are under nourished. This has increased more than 346 million people since 2006. As a result of agricultural neglect, a worldwide economic crisis, and an increase in the cost of food for everyone, 15% of the world's population is going hungry*. Most of which are in developing nations. Azerbaijan is considered a developing nation. It is very easy to forget about these parts of the world. It is very easy to say "that's not America, you can't compare the two worlds" or "there's nothing I can do about it."

One of my favorite documentaries is called "Invisible Children." I first watched this video in my church collage group. After watching the video it made me want to join the Peace Corps to help more people in the world. Three years, 2 months later, here I am. I'm not sure if I've helped the world, but I've certainly learned a lot more about it. I've learned that I was pretty ignorant about a lot of things going on outside of America. It's easy to pretend that everything is fine and perfect when you are surrounded by so much excess, so much privilege. There are a lot of really great people in this part of the world. They a so similar to us in so many ways. They have dreams, they have goals, they have fears, they have needs, just the same as any of us do.

There are good and bad people in every part of the world, and no one person can represent an entire country or culture. I've been asked more times than I can count, "how do Americans feel about this..." or "what do Americans think about that?" How can I answer for more than 305 million Americans? I can't. But yet, sometimes we expect others to do the same, answer for "why do Muslims do this?" or "why do Muslims think that?" Every person is just that, a person, an individual. You can never fully understand a culture based on the thoughts or actions of a few people. Imagine how we would feel if everyone outside of America based their thoughts of America on what skin heads, or KKK members said and did. It would be a pretty skewed view of reality. The world really needs a lot more understanding about each other. Ramadan is one way that I can bridge the gap in understanding. It tests my patience and willpower, it tests my strength, commitment, and endurance. I am finally beginning to see that it truly is a sacrifice, and a very personal one.

(Disclaimer: Today's post is one of the rare ones in which I talk about my personal feelings regarding religion and politics around the world. As stated above, it is only my opinion, and does not represent the US Peace Corps, America, or Azerbaijan in any way. It's just one persons rambling thoughts about the world.)

*http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm

Ramadan Day 8

Woohoo! I did it, I survived a whole week! Thank you to everyone for the positive comments and feedback. It really helps knowing I have a (small) fan base out there! Day 7 was really harder than previous days. I actually felt hungry yesterday. Previous days, hunger passed quickly, and my stomach was able to quiet. Yesterday however, while teaching class, my stomach decided to declare my participation in Ramadan... over and over again, loud enough for my students to hear. After work, I watched a movie to distract myself, which was a great technique. Only problem was, I didn't notice the clock ticking toward sun down. As hungry as we were, dinner was actually 10 min later than it could have been.

This morning was another early start. 430 felt like 230. My brain did not want to wake up, and I was still full from dinner when we woke. Have you ever tried to force yourself to eat something when you were already full? It's not a pleasant feeling. I had to force myself to drink water, and my stomach has felt bloated all morning. However, my hopes are high as I can focus on the fact that I was successful in completing the first week... that has to count for something.

Ramadan Day 7

Last night was perhaps one of the most difficult yet. I was so tired and thirsty by the time dinner rolled around that I really didn't enjoy my meal as opposed to just wolfing it down as fast as I possibly could... also, not good for digestion. My stomach hurt as I fell asleep, and again, I had another night filled with trips to the bathroom from excess water. It's been a really hard week. I've been doing this for only 6 full days, and then today is the start of the 7th, and I've already lost 5 and a half pounds. I'm sure that most of that is water weight, but it surprised me as I wasn't really "dieting" or doing anything abnormal other than just changing the times I eat, and cutting out water. I'm also losing more hair than normal. This morning my hair brush revealed a larger than normal amount of hair.

Last night I was seriously close to just giving up. We had one hour to go, and I was so thirsty, that I couldn't even get excited about baked potatoes and chicken nuggets (a rare luxury item that occasionally pops up in the market.) All I could think about was water. Then, when I could drink, I felt like I couldn't get enough in my body fast enough. So of course, too much water + drinking too quickly = stomach ache.

I have one week before summer camp starts. When it does, I'm seriously questioning if I'll be able to continue. At camp we usually have a lot of physical activity from about 730 am till around 11 pm when the staff is able to finally wrestle everyone into bed, and then argue with them to go to sleep for another hour. I fear that with the already unrestful sleep, that I will be too exhausted to continue fasting at that point. There are a lot of exemptions for people to not fast for Ramadan... if you're menstruating, ill, disabled, weak, pregnant, or physically unable to fast in a way that does not add problems to your body, then you aren't supposed to fast. In addition, if you are travelling many people refrain from fasting. However, these people who start, then stop, are supposed to resume fasting and ADD the days to the end... so it would just lengthen out the whole process. I'm a little apprehensive about adding days by taking time off, so for now, I'll just keep trying as best I can.

Ramadan Days 5 and 6

The evening of night 4 went well, was so tired by the time dinner was finished that we went to bed early. This weekend was a bit of a different story. We work about 6-7 days a week, so we don't really get to sleep in after waking at 430 for breakfast. We go back to sleep for a couple hours, then wake up at 730 to go to work. Sunday was good because we didn't have to be at the office till 3pm. I was so tired from waking up throughout the night that I woke up early on Sunday. Like 30 minutes early. Not cool when it's your one day to sleep in. So I got up, made breakfast, we ate, went back to sleep, then slept in till 1030. Now that was nice, and much needed.

Yesterday went fine, I was feeling a little hungry throughout the day, as I think my body is now adjusting to the early eating. However, by 630 in the evening I was feeling very thirsty, and very hungry. The last two hours just drug on and on. I had everything ready, and on the table 30 min before we could actually eat. My lips and tongue have been very dry the last couple days. After dinner I felt a bit better, but still extremely tired. So again, we went to bed early. I'm not sleeping very restfully. I wake up multiple times throughout the night from all the water right before bed. I woke up at about 2:30, 3:45, and at 4:20. We ate breakfast as usual, and then I went back to bed. Unfortunately, at 730 I was so tired I couldn't get myself out of bed. Farid had a class at 9am, so he had to leave the house at 820. I on the other hand didn't really need to be here till 10, so I went back to sleep. I woke up at 930, again from water, but feeling a little more rested. I don't really feel well rested at all this week. I feel like I'm in a bit of a fog, and that most things around me are not as interesting as I know they could be. I am definitely feeling a lack of engery from what I'm used to. I am positive it's due to not sleeping through the night, and the lack of water.

Ramadan Day 4

Well, yesterday afternoon was a bit better than the morning. Last night was a smaller, healthier meal, and an earlier bed time. I researched yesterday, and found out I had been doing a lot of little mistakes in selecting the right foods. Some of the practices I was doing were very unhealthy, and it's good that I caught them early on.

I did a lot of research about Ramadan itself yesterday, not just the food part. This month really is about self control, and cleansing oneself both physically and metaphorically. In addition to fasting from food and drink during the day, cigarettes and alcohol are also forbidden. (They usually are in Islam, but some people do these things anyway.) I don't smoke or drink, but I can imagine it would be hard to just cut yourself cold turkey from those habits. You are also supposed to pray, and use the time to bring yourself closer to God. The purpose is to build up good in your life. However, that good can be diminished by a few things too.

1. Telling lies

2. Slander

3. Gossip

4. Making false promises or oaths

5. Greed

These things are usually considered to be offensive in Islam (and with Judaism and Christianity) but they are particularly bad during Ramadan. As are swearing, fighting, doing bad deeds or actions. One is supposed to surround oneself with positive things, and not negative, unhealthy images, sounds or situations. It's kind of like how everyone tries to keep on their best behavior for an important holiday, but for Muslims this lasts for an entire month. Muslims believe that their good deeds bring a greater reward during Ramadan because this month was blessed by God. They also believe that it is easier to do good during Ramadan because this month "the devils have been chained in Hell, and so can't tempt believers. This doesn't mean that Muslims will not behave badly, but that any evil that they do comes from within themselves, without additional encouragement from Satan."1

As for the food parts, I was taking in far too many starches, and high calorie foods. Ramadan is a month were you are supposed to be healthy. Over eating, carbo-loading, or consuming extra calories to "make up" for what you skip during the day are not healthy practices, and are counter productive to fasting. From most of the places I found, they all said that it will actually make you feel more hungry during the day if you load up on all those extra calories. It will prevent your metabolism from doing a gradual slow down like it should be doing. Also, most advisers said that a Ramadan diet should contain more vegetables and fruits, less breads and carb products. It didn't say to cut them out entirely, but that they should not be the main portion of your meals. Fruit should be eaten after the meal, but with sufficient amount of time in between to allow digestion. If it's consumed too early (like right after the meal) it can cause fermentation and bloating.(2) Both of which I was experiencing, and both of which don't feel too pleasant. As I guessed correctly on my own, high amounts of sugar should be avoided, and natural sugars from organic juices and fruits should be the source of sugars instead. I was also told to avoid spicy foods, as it can upset a stomach normally, let alone an empty stomach. That would explain why I had an upset stomach the first night... spicy soup. Finally, I was taking in caffeine which is a diuretic and causes dehydration. Today is my first day without a strong cup of tea with breakfast. I'm hoping I won't feel as thirsty all day, as I drank an extra cup of regular water instead.

I found out that I should also be doing some sort of light exercise. It's actually bad to try to "conserve energy" because it prevents the bodies systems from properly using the calories consumed prior to sunrise and after sunset. It can actually lead to weight gain even while fasting! Instead of avoiding exercise, it's advised to do light stretching, or walking to keep a healthy balance. I had been doing my best not to exert myself, but now I see that it's actually possible to be counter productive in this strategy. For example, if you usually eat three small meals a day, but now you are fasting, you will consume two instead. If you start eating large amounts of food during those two meals, and you don't do regular movements or exercise, it's possible that you will have more calories in your system. Losing weight is actually a good thing for overweight people (such as myself) during Ramadan. The weight loss should come from a combination of proper diet (which means not over indulging in extra calories,) normal physical activity, and giving yourself the proper amount of sleep. That means not staying up super late knowing I have to get up early, and that my sleeping pattern will be changed by the extra fluid before bedtime.

So, now that I know what I've been doing incorrectly, I have revised my routine to include:

1. Meditation

2. Stretching/walking

3. A balanced diet

4. Better sleeping habits

I am hoping that today will be (another) fresh start. Still feeling tired as I adjust, but it's now after 10 am, and I didn't wake up thirsty this morning, so that's a good start.

1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/practices/ramadan_1.shtml

2. http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/bakingtips.Ramadan/Ramadan.cfm

Ramadan Day 3

Definitely not feeling as well as I could today. Yesterday afternoon I experienced a lot of cramps in my lower intestines about 3 hours before we could eat. It was really hot out, so I sweat more yesterday than I did on day one. I think the extra sweating dehydrated me a little more than I had anticipated. I ended up feeling so tired that I had to take a nap for two hours around 6pm. Last night was not so bad though, as we didn't over eat this time. We decided that if we were still hungry an hour after eating a normal meal, that we could always just have late seconds. It was not necessary. I of course prepared too much food, so we have left-overs each night to go with the new food. This time I included a bit of fruit into my diet, as I'm not sure taking a vitamin is enough. The fruit was nice because it gave extra hydration.

We woke up at 430 this morning again, and right away it was more difficult than the previous two days. I was not hungry. I think Farid sensed I was a bit cranky at the idea of eating when I wasn't hungry. I stumbled out of bed, for the 6th time to use the bathroom before getting everything ready. It was so hard to open my eyes, I was literally bumping into things. My brain was protesting the early wake up. I decided not to have an egg this morning, as they tend to make me feel nauseous. Not sure why, but the smell and taste of eggs usually makes me gag. I can't really eat them without feeling sick unless I eat them with something else. Instead, I supplemented with a higher calorie protein... peanuts. Oh yeah, I ate peanuts at 430 am! I also decided not to have jam with the bread, hoping that the cut in sugar content would help alleviate stomach cramps. Then we went back to bed for a few hours, meditating myself into a relaxing sleep.

Bad news though... those peanuts are high in fiber too. 730 am came with a system cleanse, and my stomach has been upset since I woke up the second time. My mouth was also very dry already, but I think that was cause I slept on my back, causing my mouth to hang open like a cat fish. Anyone ever experience that dry, leathery feeling on your tongue? Yeah, not cool when you can't drink water. It's now 930 am, and I'm feeling better than I did two hours ago. Today I'm going to research better methods of doing fasting for Ramadan. I think I need to be more aware of what foods are helpful, and which are not.

Ramadan Day 2

I successfully survived my first day of Ramadan. It had it's difficult moments, but was not as bad as I thought it might be. The worst parts for me were waking up early and feeling tired all day, feeling dehydrated during work, and not being able to taste the food I was making for dinner to check the seasonings. It's a bit odd to make a soup and not check the salt or seasoning content. Of course, we were so hungry by the time dinner rolled around that we had over cooked. I ended up making a soup, salad, stuffed peppers, and a casserole. It was of course waaaay too much food. But, now we know for tonight not to make the same mistake. Halfway through dinner both of us just couldn't eat any more. Yesterday while online I also found out that you are supposed to brush your teeth before the 5 am sunrise time. If you brush afterwards, the water going into your mouth may be considered cheating. So today, we had another early wake up, but slept in a little more till 430. Now that we know how long it takes to prepare breakfast, eat and brush our teeth, it was a little easier to plan for. I had a really hard time dragging myself out of bed this morning. My brain was still very tired, and was not giving the command to my feet that I wanted it to. However, we successfully managed to boil some eggs, set the table, and eat. After breakfast I felt sick. My stomach hurt from drinking so much water (I'm used to just a half a cup of tea at breakfast, not three glasses of water, a glass of multivitamin juice, AND a cup of tea...) I had to resist the urge to be sick when I lay back down to sleep again. Farid has informed me that this is a result of our stomachs still being full from last night's dinner, and then cramming more water and food in only a few hours later for breakfast. He said we should probably try to space the water a little better throughout the night, and not stuff ourselves too much for dinner time. So, a few trial and error will make this a bit more smooth. Yesterday I felt hungry at lunch time, but ignoring it made the feeling go away. I was able to concentrate on work to keep me a bit distracted, and when we got home, all that time in the evening that I would have used to cook dinner was used to catch up on washing the dishes. It ended up being kinda good for a distraction. When you get to the last two hours it can be a little hard to focus. So, washing the dishes took about an hour, then we cooked together. We had everything on the table ready to go, and then waited for the time to change for sunset.

As I am not Muslim, but wish to share in this experience, a good friend of mine has suggested that I include some form of daily meditation into my experience. As most Muslims use this month to do a little self purification, reflect, and teach themselves discipline, it would be good to share in some of the other experiences as well. I will not be praying multiple times a day, but I think after a 430am breakfast that a little meditation, controlled breathing, and clearing of the mind can be incorporated. I'm excited also that I'm not the only volunteer doing Ramadan in Azerbaijan this year. So I wish the others good luck, as we are all in this together!

My first Ramadan

This morning was the start of Ramadan. Although I've been in Azerbaijan for three years, I've never fasted for Ramadan. As this is my final year in Azerbaijan, I really wanted to attempt to fast for Ramadan this year. So, my wonderful husband agreed to help me through it (he doesn't usually fast for Ramadan, but has done it before.) 4 am came early this morning. My body has this problem where I always wake up like an hour before I need to when I'm afraid I'll oversleep. It can be good when you're going to the airport, but not so good when you're going to wake up at 4 am each day just to eat breakfast. This year, Ramadan is long because it's in the summer months. The days are longer, meaning we wake up early to eat breakfast, and eat dinner very late. Today will be a total of almost 16 hours between meals. In Azerbaijan, they also say you can't drink water when fasting. So I drank a liter of water, and some juice and a cup of tea this morning. My stomach is not used to it yet, so I imagine it will become easier in a couple weeks.

Just a little background on Ramadan for those of you who are unfamiliar with it. Wednesday the 11th of August is the first full day of Ramadan in the Caucasus. This Holy month for Muslims will continue for 30 days, and will end on September 9th or 10th depending on whether you can see the new moon or not. For those in North America who will celebrate Ramadan, the month will begin one day later (August 12th) because of the position of the moon. Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, and is believed to be the month in which the Muslim holy book (the Koran) was revealed to the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. For Muslims, in addition to monotheism and a belief in Muhammad as the prophet, prayer multiple times a day, doing good deeds or charity work, pilgrimage to Mekka for those who are able, Muslims must also fast in order to create self-purification. That means that for the whole month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world will fast during the days. For Shia Muslims though, there are a few small differences. But in Azerbaijan this is fairly common for practicing Muslims. Just for those of you who find it interesting, I'm including a copy of the prayer times for Baku during the month of Ramadan. Food must be eaten before the sunrise times listed, and after sunset times listed. As this is my first attempt at fasting for Ramadan, I think this is a great cultural aspect that many Peace Corps volunteers in Islamic countries attempt in order to better understand the culture. I'll try to keep you guys up to date about my attempt!

Timetable for Ramadan 2010

Ramadan	August-September	Subh (Imsak)	Sunrise	Zuhr	Аsr	Maghrib (Iftar)	Isha
1	11	05:29	06:47	13:49	18:15	20:59	21:28
2	12	05:30	06:48	13:49	18:14	20:58	22:27
3	13	05:31	06:49	13:49	18:14	20:56	22:25
4	14	05:32	06:50	13:49	18:13	20:55	22:23
5	15	05:34	06:51	13:49	18:12	20:53	22:21
6	16	05:35	06:52	13:49	18:11	20:52	22:20
7	17	05:36	06:53	13:48	18:10	20:51	22:18
8	18	05:38	06:54	13:48	18:09	20:49	22:16
9	19	05:39	06:55	13:48	18:09	20:48	22:14
10	20	05:40	06:56	13:48	18:08	20:46	22:12
11	21	05:41	06:57	13:47	18:07	20:45	22:10
12	22	05:42	06:58	13:47	18:06	20:43	22:08
13	23	05:44	06:59	13:47	18:05	20:42	22:06
14	24	05:45	06:59	13:47	18:04	20:40	22:05
15	25	05:46	07:00	13:46	18:03	20:39	22:03
16	26	05:47	07:01	13:46	18:02	20:37	22:01
17	27	05:49	07:02	13:46	18:01	20:36	21:59
18	28	05:50	07:03	13:45	18:00	20:34	21:57
19	29	05:51	07:04	13:45	17:59	20:32	21:55
20	30	05:52	07:05	13:45	17:58	20:31	21:53
21	31	05:53	07:06	13:45	17:57	20:29	21:51
22	1	05:54	07:07	13:44	17:56	20:28	21:49
23	2	05:56	07:08	13:44	17:55	20:26	21:47
24	3	05:57	07:09	13:44	17:54	20:24	21:46
25	4	05:58	07:10	13:43	17:52	20:23	21:44
26	5	05:59	07:11	13:43	17:51	20:21	21:42
27	6	06:00	07:12	13:43	17:50	20:19	21:40
28	7	06:01	07:13	13:42	17:49	20:18	21:38
29	8	06:03	07:14	13:42	17:48	20:16	21:36