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