End of Ramazan Celebration

IYI BAYRANLAR means, happy holidays in Turkish. Today is one of the biggest holidays of the Muslim culture. It is the end of Ramazan (Ramadan in English). The Turkish people have been fasting for 40 days! They are allowed to eat before the sun rises and after it sets. Therefore, at around 3:00 am, a real drummer starts his rounds through the village. He comes by everyone's house, drumming away. The drums are basically a "wake-up call" and the woman get up to prepare meals before the sun rises. This week is the end of the 40 days, so there is a lot of celebrating. Most stores are closed, everyone is heading to families. Today is called the "sugar" day. We bought a bunch of candy and let the girls hand it out. Why are they inside the gate? Well, the Turkish children get a little "grabby." They have been ringing the doorbell all day! Our doorbell sounds like a bird, so it is really annoying. Chance took Kaely and Londyn around in van with the moon roof. They popped their heads out and threw candy while saying, "iyi bayramlar! and 'shugar'!" Everyone got a kick out of it.

This morning our street was lined with Turkish carpets. We learned from last year and moved the vans before the chanting started. If we hadn't, there would have been no way to make it to school this morning. Around 100 men gathered and prayed, chanted, and kept standing up- bending down-kneeling- and back up. I went to the roof of our house to snap a couple shots. They are in front of the mosque, across from our house.

Disclaimer: The previous facts are from Angie's "exposure" to the Turkish culture. One better ask a Turkish Muslim to get the real history behind Ramazan. :)