Happy Ramadan Holiday

Or, Ramazan Bayraminiz kutlu olsun! (as they say here). Ramadan officially ended last night, and today was the first of the 3 day holiday celebrated after Ramadan ends. You heard about my iftar experience during Ramadan. Well, I wanted to include a brief picture of another way to do iftar:
That's right, our neighbors had their friends and family over for an iftar in honor of our neighbor who passed away a month or so ago. They couldn't all fit in their apartment, so the caterer came to our parking lot and they set up a sort of backyard barbecue-style iftar. The pictures were taken from our usual "spying location," our balcony.

Anyways, back to today's holiday. It's kinda like a cross between Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Halloween. The other name for the holiday is Sugar Holiday. People visit family, friends, and neighbors for 3 days. Guests are served coffee, candy, and dessert. Children stop at your door, and wish you "Bayraminiz kutlu olsun," and in return you give them a piece of candy (I love trick-or-treaters!) Today is the biggest day. Ninety percent of the shops are closed. We went out today, and everyone we saw was dressed up. If they can afford it, they usually buy a new outfit just for today. Today is primarily for spending time with family, and then the next 2 days you see friends and neighbors. So, it's been a quiet day for us, but the next 2 days should be busy.