Tuesday, June 9, 2009

The elephant: sonic edition

I believe I mentioned how the prevalence of Islam here becomes sort of ordinary after a while. There is a mosque, for instance, about 20 feet out the newsroom's back door (where the cats hang out--apparently there is a litter of kittens out there now, too... I'll look into that). And the calls to prayer just become a part of your day, whether you are Muslim or not.

There are six per day, all sung, all with different names. My favorite is, I think, the Magrib. The following recording is what it sounds like all over the city during the call to prayer--you hear it everywhere. (you may need to crank the volume. I recorded this with my Dh200 cell phone.)

Magrib, as heard from ATM at Muroor Road and 15th Street.

It's pretty in a Gregorian sort of way.

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