Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Dubai: A Wake-Up Call

Who?! What?! Hello?! 

Boing! Up I rise out of my bed off my sleeping table, to shouting in my ear.

Holy Mother of God! What has happened?!

Oh. It's the call of the muezzin from the nearby mosque. There must be a loudspeaker right outside my window or something. The Room 406 special courtesy wake-up call.

At 6:00 in the morning. With a helpful "snooze button" selection every 10 minutes or so thereafter for about half an hour. OK, OK, I'm up already.

It isn't one man's voice. It's at least two, maybe three men's voices. And they clearly do NOT subscribe to a polyphonic tradition. No, it's a discordant, jarring, wearing on your very last nerve sort of call to God.

Here is a sample I captured at night.




In Gonder, I also was awakened by a holy call early in the morning, but I think there was just the one voice. 

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