Fall is here!

There has been much happening lately but I was just able to get to the internet. Since its being really slow I'll save my hail survival story for later and just tell you more about Ramadan. On a sidenote, fall is finally here as evidenced by the great amounts of rainfall we've been having and the slight chill in the air. Izyl.
So about Ramadan...
Things I like:
the large amounts of dates that we consume (the fast is broken everyday by eating a date)
shebekia...i have no idea how its spelled but its a fried pastry covered in honey...yum
tharirt: really good soup with chickpeas, lentils, and cilantro
having breakfast at 630pm
Things I don't like too much:
the hunger i feel at noon time
being woken up at 3am for 'dinner'
that i cant pace myself and always eat too much at break fast (lfdur)

I don't have much time now but I just wanted to give a basic idea of our breakfast. At the second to last call to prayer we break fast by eating a date and then eat many sugary and bready things accompanied by hot coffee or tea (very sweet, of course). We also have hard boiled eggs with salt and cumin. Once finished with the all that we have the tharirt (or 'harira' in darija). After that we get rolled home haha but seriously I eat a lot. This is pretty standard in most homes with slight variations here and there, depending on the income or size of the family.
We're halfway through. Almost there :)

Ramadan

Today is the first official day of Ramadan. What better way to find out than a glaring wake up call at 2:30am??? I had just managed to fall asleep when suddenly I was woken by drumming outside by house. Now this isn't the type of town that has belligerent youth coming home at 2am banging on drums...so I automatically surmised that this was on official annoucement of the beginning of Ramadan. It was a sole drummer just walking by all the houses, making sure he was heard by everyone.
I was informed by my host family yesterday that today we would begin our month of fasting. For almost a month now members of my community have been asking whether I will fast ( or 'zum' in Tamazight) for Ramadan. I tell everyone the same thing: "iyeah inchallah" or yes if god wills it. This is my way of saying that I will try it but make no promises to fast the entire month. I ate a lot last night like my host mother advised me to but I didn't eat the meal before sunrrise this morning...so I am a bit hungry already and its 1:30pm. I can't eat or drink (or put on chapstick) until sundown today...so about 8pm.
Its day one and its harder than it seems.
Inchallah this gets easier...
:)