Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Muscat - Dawn Call to Prayer

We have been trying to sleep with our windows open instead of using the aircon every night (the ceiling fan creaks similarly to that evil movie Psycho) and the other morning I was woken up by what wasn't my alarm (a soothing John Legend - Ordinary People) but the dawn Call to Prayer. Duma sleeps through anything and although he is the one working and getting up early, I was the one annoyed and given the morning cue to wee...Duma still snoring away and oblivious to the goings on.

Here is an example from Muttrah, Oman though its a different time of day.
I have an evening recording from my Sony camera, buts it on my laptop and needs to be transferred.



So it was about 5.45am and entirely too early to make a coffee (I'm on the instant Nescafe Gold now w/ creamer since we are too broke to buy a Nespresso machine and I'm apparently somewhat lactose intolerant these days, so no Duma....I'm not a Yankee Doodle just because I use creamer!) and too early to get on Facebook. *sigh* This not working thing is starting to get on my damn nerves lol!

You see, since I know I'm due to start a new job after Eid and have to start getting up @ 6am instead of 8.30am, I have been telling Duma "you need to hold me accountable to get up when you do" knowing damn well that I won't and will get mad at him for even suggesting it when the time comes. So bless his cotton socks, he gets up in the morning and limps past my side of the bed (he has a sore knee at the mo'), I make my usual smart ass comment with one eye open (similar to a pirate, yes) about him walking around in his undies as he passes me, I think about getting up, he makes a smart ass comment back about "go back to bed, your exhausted!" *insert sarcasm* and then I do exactly that :)

I'm one of those people who gets more grumpy when I go back to sleep for a short amount of time, rather than getting a decent hour or so. And knowing this, you would think that I would stay away or do something productive like make Duma some lunch? No, I chose to sleep (because I could, of course!) and that starts my day off totally wrong, but I do it day in and day out religiously because its habit lately. Period.

Call to Prayer happens 5x daily and we live in decent proximity to a few beautiful mosques and its actually pretty relaxing once you get used to it. I get to the stage where at 12.2* something o'clock pm I try to time/guestimate when the call to prayer will occur (without having to look it up online) and feel a sense of relief when it happens...who am I turning into? :)

It's moments like this that hit you like a 2x4 and you realise where you are in this world. We are no longer in Australia where there is no real 'Aussie' culture other than drinking beer and enjoying a Sunday sesh, calling 'mates' by shortened names (Bazza, Gazza or Dazza) and eating Vegemite on toast. We are in Oman where people wear dishdashas, wear Abayas, drink Vimto and eat creme caramel by the pound @ Ramadan...and Indian males hold hands walking down the street. It is different and we stick out like sore thumbs, but we love it.

Now if only I had enough wasta* to reschedule the dawn call to prayer later in the morning, that would be happy days.

* Wasta post still to come, as is the insha'allah one!

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