Sat, 21 November 2009
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At a mosque in Norderstedt near Hamburg, the men's eyes sparkle for a moment as they watch pictures on Turkish television of thousands of people ending the day's Ramadan fast in Istanbul.
Muslims waiting for sunset during Ramadan in Cairo, Egypt (photo: Wikipedia)
The group, mostly Turkish-born, but with a Pakistani and Bosnian among them, serve themselves from saucepans of meat and fragrant rice flavoured with sliced almonds.
They wait for the moment of sunset on the day's Ramadan calendar, then each eats the customary date to start the meal.
It does not take long for the ground-floor room to empty as they finish eating and drop the plastic plates in a refuse sack.
Some steal away quietly to pray and others go out to chat in the social room of this far outpost of Islam. Outside, most of the population are not even aware that the annual fasting month is happening.
Missing home
This is a part of Germany, says one man, where the locals keep to themselves and consider themselves sociable if they say "Good morning" and "Good night" to a neighbour and nothing else all day.
The television coverage from Turkey has set off a yearning in some of the men to feel "at home", to be among up to 15,000 guests breaking their fast in great tents in Istanbul that are set up there every year by rich benefactors and open to all comers on every evening of Ramadan.
The talk in Norderstadt turns to ways of getting there. Budget flights from Germany to Turkey are cheaper in autumn, so why not undertake a flying visit to Istanbul from Friday to Sunday? One of the men is assigned to check out the next day if affordable flights are available.
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