In Hargeisa, fajr prayer happens around 4:30am each morning, which means that during the month of Ramadan most of the country rises even earlier to take suhoor, the pre-dawn meal before the day’s fast begins. For some, including myself, this is the most uncomfortable aspect of fasting: rising early to eat and drink, when your body is still half asleep, to sustain you for as many hours as possible thereafter.

But I’ve tried to be a sport about it, and make sure I consume healthy proteins, and plenty of water, etc. I managed to organize myself enough in the evenings to take suhoor in my bedroom, including heating water in a tea kettle and storing warm foods in a metal tin. The above suhoor included dates, eggs and potatoes with flax seed, halwa, peanuts, sunflower seeds, butter cookies, turmeric tea, and a large bottle of water. The rhythm of Ramadan has finally – graciously – started to sink in after 7 days of fasting, and I’m able to sleep again after suhoor until it’s time to greet the day, and my energy sustains me almost until maghreb prayer and iftar, the sunset meal for breaking the day’s fast.

The cover photo is a peek at the moon a quarter of the way through the month of Ramadan, as seen through pomegranate trees.