I was in Istanbul for five nights, and since none of the time I was there was on a weekend, I didn't have any time to do anything fun. Every day was spent in the office and then back in my hotel, and work was the name of the game. That's OK, though--it's really hot and humid in Istanbul right now, and after experiencing more than one crazy taxi ride with b.o. and no air conditioning, I was more than happy to take refuge in any room or building that offered some semblance of a/c and/or air filtering.
I arrived in Istanbul right after the start of Ramadan (they call it "Ramazan" in Turkish), the holy month of Islam where people fast from sunup to sundown. This provided an interesting opportunity to observe reality versus what we hear about Ramadan here in the US. I was even invited to a break-the-Ramadan-fast dinner on Thursday night, which was interesting to see. Some observations:
- The number of people who actually fast for Ramadan was less than 20%, based on my observations of colleagues and people in the office. I am told, however, that this number is likely much higher in the countryside, which would not surprise me based on other correlations I've seen between modernity and/or income levels and religious fervor/observance.
- People who are observing Ramadan carry around cards that tell them exactly when sundown will be each night during Ramadan. That said, the evening meal ("iftar") cannot start until a signal is sounded from a mosque. I heard this signal at the Ramadan dinner I went to. The restaurant was loud, however, so it just sounded like a bunch of buzzing.
- Even with the low number of actual fasters, it's rude to eat/drink in front of people that are fasting. This being the case, no one at the restaurant would eat or drink anything until the signal was sounded, even though things were laid out in front of us.
- There is no special ritual or prayer that occurs before the evening meal begins. Supposedly prayer is supposed to occur at the end of the meal, but I didn't see this. Maybe it's a private thing.
- I asked around and no one could point out any foods or drinks to me that were part of Ramadan traditions, other than a kind of walnut snack covered in a brown jelly-like substance. I sampled this and while it was OK, it wasn't anything special.
- A lot of Turks scoff at the whole notion of Ramadan, if not Islam on the whole. I doubt that I would hear this in other Islamic countries, since Turkey is the only one that has a secular government structure. Many Turks are actually worried about the future of their secular government, as the main Islamic political party has been growing in power and influence over the past few years. A lot of people are on edge about the upcoming September 12 elections.
The meal we had was pretty good, but it had been suggested to me that it was going to be a giant feast of meats and other Turkish delicacies, but the quantities were actually pretty small. It was one of those set meal things where everyone gets exactly the same things and in the same quantities, so I was pretty disappointed at not being able to order giant quantities of shish, kebab and other things the Turks do so well. Man oh man, do the Turks know their meat. At least I got a lot of meat during other meals throughout the week. The other food that I had a few times that I enjoyed a lot is lentil soup. Turkish lentil soup is blended so that it's fairly smooth. You add a bit of fresh lemon juice, stir it up and enjoy. Great stuff.
It's good to be home, but I miss the view I had from my hotel window. It's nice to have status with Hilton. They gave me a corner room with a cool view of the Bosporus Straits:
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