A recent email from my friend Shouna mentioned the advent of Thanksgiving decorations and Christmas shopping now that Hallowe'en is past. I was at least partially aware of that holiday-- we had a sleepover, during which we stuffed ourselves on pizza and candy and watched horror movies-- but somehow it didn't really sink in as Hallowe'en. And we certainly don't have turkeys or pilgrims or fir trees or red-suited fat men crowding the stores around here. Nor is the weather cool enough (and definitely not rainy enough) to be classified as "fall". I'm in utter calendar shock and denial right now. Near as I can ascertain, I'm perpetually stuck somewhere around August... though that's not right either, because it's not that hot. But I don't feel as though the summer really existed for me, and fall has yet to arrive. I don't know when I am.

But it is holiday season here. Ramadan began this past Wednesday (my two-month mark), and here that changes the entire life of the city. Shops and homes and streets are bright with colorful and sometimes gaudy lanterns, strings of carnival lights, and glittering streamers. Work and school schedules shorten and shift to accomodate the all-night meals. Well-wishes and blessings abound, and on the Metro on Thursday I heard a woman deliver a 5-minute lecture/sermon on appropriately respectful behavior to a group of giggling and chattering school girls-- who immediately stood up and conducted themselves with the utmost solemnity for the rest of the ride... except that sometimes I could see their eyes still laughing in irrepressible exuberance as they glanced sidelong at each other.

Yesterday evening I broke the fast with some friends. We set out the dishes on a sheet on the floor and sat around it, tearing off pieces of flatbread (right hand only!) and using those to scoop up the various foods. The men of the family ate in a separate room. Though the meal itself was not very long-- probably only about half an hour or so-- we stayed for hours afterwards, talking and drinking tea and then coffee. This coffee, incidentally, is wonderful-- very strong and sweet, brewed with a generous helping of ginger, and served in tiny handle-less cups. It's a specialty of their people, brought with them from their native country, and has to be one of my favorite discoveries here.

Right now I'm listening to the OU-Texas A&M game. A&M just tied the game (no fear, it's only the end of the first half). Hard to believe that I'm sitting here so far away... listening to the roar of the crowd and the familiar voices of Bob Barry et al. and the banality of Braum's commercials I can almost forget that I'm not in Oklahoma. It's easy enough to find ways to remind myself, though.