Sunrise, Sunset

They are called Rolladen and they are a truly wonderful invention-shutters that roll down from the inside and block out light and noise and heat. I stopped using them about two weeks after my arrival because I was afraid that I would begin sleeping 20 hours a day (they are really that good). Since I ended my brief affair with the Rolladen, I have begun to realize how much light there is-the days here are really really long. It's great, the sun rises about 5:30 and sets around 9:30. By 6:30 AM, the birds are chirping and the sun is blazing. I (usually) feel super energized and can get so much done with all this daylight to play around with. Granted, it's been thunder-storming and raining nearly every day, but, hey, at least it's still bright out. 

As I sat last weekend in the park, soaking up all the Vitamin D I'm going to need to get me through another Michigan winter, I started to think about Ramadan. I've been talking with my colleagues and friends about it for a few weeks now. The month of fasting will begin tomorrow for Muslims here in Germany (insh'allah) and everyone seems ready. The trouble is, and what I have finally started to realize, is that these long, light-filled days are not just new for me, but also for many of those who will be abstaining from eating food and drinking (even water) during the daylight hours in Germany for the next month. And the general consensus seems to be that it's going to be hard. Really hard.  Okay, the really hard is my interpretation. When I've asked my friends and colleagues who are going to be fasting about the long days, they sort of just smile and shrug and say it will be ok. But for many people spending their first Ramadan in a country that will not have Ramadan hours or a time change or community-wide iftur (breaking of the fast) as they do in many majority-Muslim countries, this has the potential to be an especially difficult month. 

This Ramadan presents a great opportunity-one in which Germans can learn more about the culture of many of those who have recently come, and in which communities can come together and share food and traditions. It is my hope that everyone can take the time to learn a little, to ask questions and to reflect. And perhaps we can all be thankful we're not in Sweden where the sun rises at 3:30 AM, because, come on, that's just too much of a good thing.